tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post5086164244156963044..comments2024-02-26T00:59:26.907-08:00Comments on Ana the Imp: Rousseau’s triumphAnastasia F-Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01284602529524462457noreply@blogger.comBlogger21125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-28855473563967821622010-12-13T00:18:02.184-08:002010-12-13T00:18:02.184-08:00Actually, I think philosophers are responsible for...Actually, I think philosophers are responsible for the practical application of prescriptive ideologies: Utopias are never more than gateways to hell, decked in flowers as they may be. Rousseau does indeed bear a direct responsibility for Robespierre's notions of the Supreme Being, the cult of Reason and the cult of virtue. Nietzsche, in contrast, does not sit at all well with Hitler and the Nazis. Some of them may have read Nietzsche but...well, I'm sure recall the line from a <i>A Fish called Wanda.</i>Anastasia F-Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01284602529524462457noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-53248354035781105032010-12-12T21:12:20.773-08:002010-12-12T21:12:20.773-08:00I agree, Ana. That's why I quipped "it&#...I agree, Ana. That's why I quipped "it's human nature that is wrong." After all, what would literature and philosophy be without its Don Quixotes and its Platos. But philosophers are not responsible for how political fanatics use their ideas. Rousseau is no more to blame for Robespierre than Nietzsche is for Hitler.nothing profoundhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02538561601096574876noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-4912041539199134232010-12-12T15:52:05.361-08:002010-12-12T15:52:05.361-08:00NP, yes, thanks. Yes, there was virtue alright in...NP, yes, thanks. Yes, there was virtue alright in Rousseau’s scheme of things, virtue in Man (the cap is quite deliberate), an ideal concept of Man, a concept of Man, of natural Man, uncorrupted by power, the state, religion and social institutions, But what’s the basis for this abstraction? It’s simply because Rousseau says so, no more than that. I other words his thesis has no empirical roots at all; it’s pure ideology, a chimera, an intellectual fantasy. But all those influenced by Rousseau, people like Robespierre, believed that it was possible to create Rousseau’s ideal state, to create a republic of virtue by removing the old corruptions. They aimed for perfection on the basis of imperfection – the result was the guillotine and the killing fields.Anastasia F-Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01284602529524462457noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-28072467692192113012010-12-12T15:52:02.877-08:002010-12-12T15:52:02.877-08:00This comment has been removed by the author.Fletch's Bloghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16402507296202065300noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-70627767841078690422010-12-12T15:43:23.839-08:002010-12-12T15:43:23.839-08:00Adam, read the Wealth of Nations. There is really...Adam, read the <i>Wealth of Nations</i>. There is really no more for me to add.Anastasia F-Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01284602529524462457noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-21266858559122839852010-12-11T07:44:21.551-08:002010-12-11T07:44:21.551-08:00Ana-you've somewhat mis-stated Rousseau's ...Ana-you've somewhat mis-stated Rousseau's position. He likewise believed that human nature was fundamentally good, and left to its own devices would develop into freedom and responsibility. The State and its agents were the enemy here. "Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains." This is, in contrast to the conservative's stance, Burke's stance, that human nature left to its own devices is fundamentally corrupt and needs strict laws and supervision to regulate it. Burke is less naive and more realistic than Rousseau, but no free spirit. In my heart of hearts I'm on Rousseau's side. From an individualist's perspective I think he was right; it's human nature that is wrong.nothing profoundhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02538561601096574876noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-42784079621793341962010-12-11T05:07:35.978-08:002010-12-11T05:07:35.978-08:00This comment has been removed by the author.Fletch's Bloghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16402507296202065300noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-59318846547499769072010-12-10T18:04:48.557-08:002010-12-10T18:04:48.557-08:00Yes, society has corrupted the "nobel savage&...Yes, society has corrupted the "nobel savage", aristocrats to the guilotine.anthonyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02931330128135957439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-50299958734555467632010-12-10T16:07:55.896-08:002010-12-10T16:07:55.896-08:00Bob, I'm delighted.Bob, I'm delighted.Anastasia F-Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01284602529524462457noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-60601631010191695772010-12-10T16:07:31.354-08:002010-12-10T16:07:31.354-08:00Calvin, absolutely.Calvin, absolutely.Anastasia F-Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01284602529524462457noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-63035056969909252982010-12-10T16:07:07.245-08:002010-12-10T16:07:07.245-08:00Suciô, that's a very interesting observation.Suciô, that's a very interesting observation.Anastasia F-Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01284602529524462457noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-19249379418788733412010-12-10T16:06:08.993-08:002010-12-10T16:06:08.993-08:00Adam, I do not think you understand the nature of ...Adam, I do not think you understand the nature of ideology. Smith was an empiricist, one who gave us a practical insight into the workings and benefits of a free economy, a contrast with the mercantilism that went before. The exaggeration refers to your silly ‘vengeful boycott' comment.Anastasia F-Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01284602529524462457noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-26311036562543661602010-12-10T07:16:57.199-08:002010-12-10T07:16:57.199-08:00Rousseau, who invented the concept of the "no...Rousseau, who invented the concept of the "noble savage", was obviously never chased by a pack of them.<br /><br />I enjoy your posts, & have linked to your site.<br /><br />Bob MackAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-31636802618557997642010-12-09T18:14:03.400-08:002010-12-09T18:14:03.400-08:00Rousseau, Hegel, et al: poisonous alien ideas - cu...Rousseau, Hegel, et al: poisonous alien ideas - curse their rotted flesh. Millions of tortured corpses are their legacy.Calvinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10640148105202971907noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-62233465387945692072010-12-09T17:28:18.392-08:002010-12-09T17:28:18.392-08:00The Empire started to come off the rails when roma...The Empire started to come off the rails when romantic, dare I say it, Rousseau-like, notions of manifest destiny and the white man's burden replaced an ad-hoc, pragmatic amalgam of trading relationships. Imperialism replaced empiricism.Suciô Sanchezhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12365362145664625757noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-62520715925313946202010-12-09T16:57:26.304-08:002010-12-09T16:57:26.304-08:00This comment has been removed by the author.Fletch's Bloghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16402507296202065300noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-50024359584629439162010-12-09T16:14:15.762-08:002010-12-09T16:14:15.762-08:00This comment has been removed by the author.Fletch's Bloghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16402507296202065300noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-72461154300547080352010-12-09T16:13:05.499-08:002010-12-09T16:13:05.499-08:00I have to go now.I have to go now.Anastasia F-Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01284602529524462457noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-55101574023501505432010-12-09T16:12:44.978-08:002010-12-09T16:12:44.978-08:00I wish you would not exaggerate so. Anyway, I tak...I wish you would not exaggerate so. Anyway, I take my stand with the the empiricists and the 'liberals', men like Adam Smith, who by no measure put forward 'ideologies.' Notions of a 'social contract' are alien to this tradition.Anastasia F-Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01284602529524462457noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-14937962436395372392010-12-09T15:52:21.486-08:002010-12-09T15:52:21.486-08:00This comment has been removed by the author.Fletch's Bloghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16402507296202065300noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-27622137533382479412010-12-09T15:50:40.571-08:002010-12-09T15:50:40.571-08:00This comment has been removed by the author.Fletch's Bloghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16402507296202065300noreply@blogger.com