Political Science 2237E Lecture Notes - Lecture 15: Amour-Propre, Sovereign People, Thought Experiment

• School: Western University
• Department: Political Science
• Course: Political Science 2237E
• Professor: Richard Vande Wetering

Document Summary

Civilized society: what do we have right now: discourse on inequality. Louis 15 and 16 both majorly sucked in comparison. Zenith of culture and civilization: atheistic, shallow, fake, shiny (corrupted); appearance over substance is what french civilization is like. We need social order, we need a sovereign (must have a government) - locke & hobbes" compromised liberty to get order. : moral justification to use power: the moral justification used to create a power and to use a power. Rousseau wants us to unite our reason w/ our passion (feels locke and hobbes promotes amour propre). Social order can"t allow people to be individualistic and pursue their own interests w/out reference to the interests of everyone else: give individuals the ability to be antisocial and fulfill amour propre instead. Liberty and social control must both be possible for rousseau. Rousseau: fixer-upper: keep individuals from becoming corrupted, maximize our liberty and equality. (locke & hobbes" goals as well)