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Jean-Jacques Rousseau

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Handbuch Anerkennung

Part of the book series: Springer Reference Geisteswissenschaften ((SPREFGEIST))

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Abstract

This paper reconstructs Rousseau’s claims that the drive for recognition (amour propre) is the principal source of the evils that beset human societies as well as the precondition of what is most valuable in human life, including love, reason, and the striving for excellence. The danger of amour-propre is shown to lie in its relative character: in the fact that it seeks comparative standing in the opinions of other subjects. Because the drive for recognition is highly malleable, it can also be harnessed to form citizens who are capable of willing the general will in a just republic.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    References to Rousseau’s texts use the following abbreviations: DI = Discourse on the Origin and Foundations of Inequality among Men, in The Discourses and Other Early Political Writings, trans. Victor Gourevitch (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997), 111–222; E = Emile, or on Education, trans. Allan Bloom (New York: Basic Books, 1979; OC = Oeuvres Complètes, ed. Bernard Gagnebin and Marcel Raymond (Paris: Gallimard, Bibliothèque de la Pléiade, 1959–1969), 4 vols.

References

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  • Neuhouser, Frederick. 2008. Rousseau’s theodicy of self-love: Evil, rationality, and the drive for recognition. Oxford: Oxford University Press [In German as: Pathologien der Selbstliebe (Berlin: Suhrkamp, 2012)].

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Barnard College (Columbia University), New York, NY, USA

    Frederick Neuhouser

Authors
  1. Frederick Neuhouser
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Correspondence to Frederick Neuhouser .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Philosophisches Seminar, Universität Münster Philosophisches Seminar, Münster, Germany

    Ludwig Siep

  2. School of Humanities & Languages, The University of New South Wales School of Humanities & Languages, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

    Heikki Ikaheimo

  3. Philosophisches Seminar, Westfälische Wilhelms Universität Philosophisches Seminar, Münster, Germany

    Michael Quante

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© 2018 Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden GmbH, ein Teil von Springer Nature

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Neuhouser, F. (2018). Jean-Jacques Rousseau. In: Siep, L., Ikaheimo, H., Quante, M. (eds) Handbuch Anerkennung. Springer Reference Geisteswissenschaften. Springer VS, Wiesbaden. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-19561-8_36-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-19561-8_36-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer VS, Wiesbaden

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-658-19561-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-658-19561-8

  • eBook Packages: Springer Referenz Sozialwissenschaften und Recht

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