Jean Jacques Rousseau Naturalistic Philosopher (28 June 1712 - 2 July 1778), steel engraving by Thevenin after a design by Gleyre with later colouring


Jean Jacques Rousseau Naturalistic Philosopher (28 June 1712 - 2 July 1778), steel engraving by Thevenin after a design by Gleyre with later colouring, after the 1764 portrait by M. Quentin de La Tour. Rousseau's romantic works were seen to have encouraged human attachment to nature and natural beauty. He saw man in a state of nature as neither moral nor immoral, but suggested that the innate sense of pity was the foundation for the subsequent development of moral society. He saw the evils of society arising from competition and economic inequality, and hence science as a source of misery if not counteracted by civic and moral responsibility. His conclusion is that society has been drawn beyond its optimum happiness by the ambitions of progress and vain success. Some authors considering human evolutionary psychology in the context of civilization have adapted his thoughts.


Size: 3469px × 5038px
Photo credit: © PAUL D STEWART/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: 18th, artwork, century, evolutionary, human, illustration, man, natural, naturalism, naturalist, noble, people, person, philosopher, philosophy, primitive, psychology, rouseau, rousseau, savage