POLI SCI 201 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Egocentrism
23 Oct 2016
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First move away from the state of nature. Tame nature by creating tools thus distinguishing them from animals. Each one began to look at the others and to want to be looked at himself, and public esteem had a value. And this was the first step toward inequality and, at the same time, toward vice. From these first preferences were born vanity and contempt on the one hand, and shame and envy on the other. And the fermentation caused by these new leavens eventually produced compounds fatal to happiness and innocence. (rousseau, second discourse, 49) The self-perfection quality of humans drew them to start comparing one another and thus recognizing inequalities. Initial differences in talent do in some sense lead to inequality. Self perfection turns into misery with comparison to other people. This was the best state because humans were not ye developed enough to exploit the new developments.
