Lesson video

Hello, my name is Mrs. Rawbone and I'd like to welcome you to this lesson on Jean-Jacque Rousseau, his philosophy and his beliefs.

Today we're gonna be working on some political philosophy together, looking at how religion integrates with that as well.

So the outcome for today's lesson is: I can explain Rousseau's ideas about human nature and society and link them to his religious views.

There are some keywords we'll be using a lot in today's lesson: civilization, civil religion, Jean-Jacque Rousseau, and Socratic questioning.

Civilization is a word which means a society with organised communities, rules and developed ways of living.

Civil religion is Rousseau's idea of a set of shared beliefs that unite people without specific religious practises.

Jean-Jacque Rousseau was a Swiss philosopher known for his political philosophy, and he lived between 1712 and 1778.

And Socratic questioning is a teaching style attributed to Socrates, which involves asking questions.

So today's lesson will be split into two parts.

We'll be looking at Rousseau's view on human nature and civilization, and then we'll be looking at Rousseau's religious beliefs.

So let's get started on Rousseau's views on human nature and civilization.

Philosophers are academics and thinkers who study ultimate questions about existence, knowledge, ethics, and reality, using logic to explore these topics.

Whether you have a religious or a non-religious worldview, you can use philosophy as a tool to understand the arguments others use to support their views.

In this lesson, we will use the philosophical tool of Socratic questioning to reflect on Jean-Jacque Rousseau's views on human nature and civilization.

Here you can see a picture of a statue of Rousseau.

Jean-Jacque Rousseau, 1712 to 1778 was a Swiss philosopher, writer, and a composer.

His works, including "The Social Contract," explore ideas about human nature, freedom, and the role of government.

Rousseau believed that society often corrupts individuals and that people should be guided by a general will for the common good.

His ideas laid the groundwork for modern political thought on democracy and individual rights.

Rousseau was influenced by the ideas of the Enlightenment, which emphasised reason and individual freedom, and criticised traditional institutions like the monarchy and the Church.

However, he had some really distinctive views on human nature and emotion.

For other Enlightenment thinkers, philosophers like Locke and Hobbes, they believed that reason or self-interest shaped by society, determined human nature, whereas Rousseau believed that humans were inherently good in their natural state.

Other thinkers like Locke and Kant saw reason, rather than emotion, as the primary guide to understanding the world.

Whereas Rousseau criticised relying too much on reason, believing it separated people from their natural emotions.

So let's check your understanding.

What are the missing words in this sentence? While many.

thinkers focused on reason and science, Rousseau's ideas often emphasised.

and nature.

Take a moment, think about what the gaps should be, jot them down, pause the video if you need to, and then come back when you are ready to check.

So well done if you put down Enlightenment.

So we are thinking about Enlightenment thinkers and that Rousseau emphasised emotion.

Izzy and Sam are discussing Rousseau's beliefs about human nature.

Izzy says, "Rousseau thought that in their natural state, people are good, they are peaceful and equal, not selfish or corrupt." Sam says "Then how does he explain selfish and corrupt behaviour?" Izzy says, "Rousseau argued that civilization corrupts people.

As communities form and property is owned, competition and inequality breed greed and selfishness, with rules and structures taking away freedom and compassion." Sam replies, "So Rousseau believed that people started out as good, but then they lose their natural goodness." So the prevailing Enlightenment view was that civilization, with its organised communities, its rules and its developed ways of living, was the pinnacle of human progress.

Rousseau in contrast, believed that civilization corrupts people.

He proposed that humans were better off in a state of nature, which, for him, was where he thought they lived simply and harmoniously without the inequalities imposed by structured civilization.

So let's check your understanding.

Is this true or false? Rousseau believed that civilization was the pinnacle of human progress.

Take a moment, have a think, not just about your answer, but also about why you came to that answer.

Pause the video and then come back when you're ready to check.

So well done if you put false.

But why is this false? Well, Rousseau believed that civilization with its inequalities corrupted humans and that they were better off in the simpler, more equal state of nature.

Rousseau opened his famous work, "the Social Contract" with the following statement: "Man is born free and everywhere he is in chains." I'd like you to have a think for a moment.

What does this quotation suggest Rousseau thought about fairness and equality in society? Pause and tell and talk to someone nearby if you can, and then come back when you are ready to think a little bit more about the lesson.

So let's have a look more deeply at the quotation: "Man is born free." So humans are naturally unbound by rules or restrictions when they first come into the world.

That's what Rousseau was saying.

And he doesn't just mean as a baby, but he means in their natural state, without a government, that's what people would be like.

"In chains." Well, for Rousseau, chains represent the restrictions and the limitations that society imposes on individuals.

So what do you think? Are society's rules more helpful or do they limit our freedom? So if you're able again to turn and talk to someone nearby, take a moment to think about your view and whether being in chains is actually a helpful or a limiting thing.

Pause if you need to and then come back when you're ready to join the lesson.

Socratic questioning is a philosophical tool and we can use it to explore ideas and challenge assumptions.

It's a style of questioning attributed to Socrates and it uses different question types.

"Man is born free, but everywhere he is in chains." So we could ask the Socratic question, what are these chains? And it's Socratic because it's asking for clarification.

We could ask for reasons.

What evidence is there to support the view that humans are born free? If we want to delve deeper, we can ask about consequences.

If humans are born free, does that mean they have no responsibilities? And we could also challenge a viewpoint here.

Could the chains protect our freedom instead of limiting it? So we can use this style of questioning to just really delve deeper and to challenge what we think and what we're saying and what we are arguing for.

Socratic questioning is a back and forth dialogue.

So it might begin with a question such as, "What do you think Rousseau means by 'man is born free'?" And perhaps a reply would be, "Well, it means that it is not natural for humans to follow rules." And then that might lead to the question, "Well, is there any evidence for this?" The response might be, "Well, babies don't follow rules, they just do what they want." A reply to that could be, "Is Rousseau saying all rules are like chains?" And the response might be, "Maybe not.

Some rules are probably helpful." So we might get a deeper question, "So is it better to be free or in chains?" With the reply, "Well, freedom is better, but rules keep order, so a balance is needed." So how do you think asking questions like this helps us analyse a worldview? So Rousseau has a very particular worldview.

How does this help us work out what that is, pull it apart and really get to grips with it? Take a moment, talk to somebody nearby if you can, and think about how that back and forth dialogue of kind of challenging with deeper and deeper questions might help to unpick what someone really thought.

Pause the video and come back when you are ready.

So for your practise task, I would like you to choose which words describe Rousseau's beliefs about the state of nature and which describe his beliefs about on it? And I'd like you to explain your answers.

A: competitive, B: corrupting, C: free, D: peaceful, and E: unequal.

So take some time to choose which ones do you think describe the state of nature and which ones describe the impact of civilization on it? And then for each of those, explain why.

Pause the video and come back when you are ready to check.

So let's have a look at what you might have written.

You could have said: competitive: This is about the impact of civilization, and that's because the impact of civilization was to introduce competition, creating rivalry and jealousy, according to Rousseau.

Corrupting: So the impact of civilization here was to corrupt human nature and turn people away from their natural goodness.

Free: In the state of nature, humans were free from the restrictions of society and government.

Peaceful: In the state of nature, humans live harmoniously without conflict.

Unequal: The impact of civilization was to create inequality, with social hierarchies and property dividing people.

So, well done if you recognise which each idea belongs to.

So for Task two, Alex agrees with Rousseau that humans are naturally good, but Jun does not.

Decide who would be more likely to ask each Socratic question in the table below and explain why.

So the first question is about clarifying concepts.

How can we be sure humans are naturally bad? The second, probing assumptions.

Why should we believe that humans were better in the state of nature? The third, exploring consequences.

If humans are naturally good, why do we need rules? And finally, challenging viewpoints: When people act selfishly, could it be because society teaches us to? So decide who would ask each question.

Think about what their original viewpoint is.

So Alex agrees that humans are naturally good and Jun does not.

Who would ask each question and why? Take your time, think about your answers, make sure you write them down, and then pause the video, coming back when you are ready to check and see what you could have written.

So this is what you should have said: that Jun would ask the first question because he doesn't think there's any evidence to support Rousseau's belief that humans are naturally good.

Probing assumptions: So for that one, Jun would ask this because he's sceptical about whether humans were truly better off without society.

For exploring consequences: Again, that will be Jun, because the need for rules challenges Alex's view that humans are naturally good.

And finally challenging viewpoints would be Alex, and he would ask this to support Rousseau's view that civilization causes selfish behaviour.

So let's move on to the second part of our lesson: Rousseau's religious beliefs.

Rousseau's religious beliefs evolved throughout his life.

He was born a Calvinist Protestant in Geneva in 1712.

He converted to Catholicism aged 16 when living in France.

He returned to Geneva in 1754 and there he readopted Protestantism.

And then throughout his later life, between the 1750s and 1770s, he actually criticised organised religion and promoted a heartfelt, intuitive connection with God.

Laura, Jacob and Andeep are discussing Rousseau's beliefs.

Laura says, "Rousseau changing from Protestantism to Catholicism and back to Protestantism suggests he was very confused about his beliefs." Jacob says, "On the other hand, it shows that Christianity was important to him throughout his life." Andeep's response is, "Well, I think it reflects the fact that his worldview developed over time.

In the end, he decided that religion should be personal, based on feelings and not just about following rules." Why might someone's beliefs change over time? If you can turn and talk to someone nearby, then please do so.

Pause the video to give yourself time to think about this and then come back when you are ready to move on.

So let's check your understanding.

Which of the following best describes Rousseau's religious views throughout his life? Is it A: he remained a devout Catholic, following the church's teachings? B: he started as a Protestant, converted to Catholicism, and later returned to Protestantism? Is it C: He rejected all forms of religion and became an atheist? Or is it D: He believed in a personal God, but never questioned the church's authority? So choose the answer that you think best fits.

Pause if you need a moment to read through and think about it and then come back when you are ready to check.

So, well done if you put that he started as a Protestant, converted to Catholicism, and later returned to Protestantism.

Now, Rousseau's religious beliefs influenced what he had to say about politics.

Here's an example of a belief that he held, belief in God as creator.

So this led him to think that humans are born good.

Rousseau believed that as creations of God, people are naturally compassionate and moral.

And this led him to support equality in society and challenge inequality.

And it also led him to argue that we should have a fair society.

He argued that things like private property and social classes went against God's intention.

Rousseau believed society should be based on shared moral values to create fairness and justice.

His belief in an afterlife meant that he felt there was justice beyond life.

So believing in an afterlife gave Rousseau this sense of justice beyond this life.

This led him to focus on doing what's right and being virtuous, rather than just chasing success.

And it also encouraged for him the importance of inner goodness.

So his belief in the afterlife led him to value personal goodness and virtue, saying that true worth comes from being a good person, not from wealth or power.

So Rousseau was not discarding religion.

Instead he was suggesting a civil religion.

And this image represents that, everyone joined together in their beliefs.

So Rousseau believed that religion should bring people together and not divide them.

And this could happen if instead of focusing on strict religious rules, religion focused on shared moral values like kindness and fairness.

So let's check your understanding.

Is this true or false? Rousseau believed that religion should be a personal, private matter and not influence society.

Have a think about whether that statement is true or false.

Have a think about why.

Pause if you need to and then come back when you are ready to check your answer.

So, well done if you put false.

He did not think it should influence society.

And this is because he saw it as a unifying force in society.

And this is what the civil religion was.

It was there to bring people together and promote moral values.

So let's practise your understanding on this.

Sam's teacher wants her to answer some questions that will help her prepare to write an essay on our unit question: Religion and politics in the Enlightenment: how were they aligned? Sam has started the task, and I'd like you to use the sentence starters to complete her work.

What did Rousseau believe about God? And she started to write, "Well, Rousseau believed.

." What does Rousseau's belief in the afterlife say about how people should live their lives? And she writes, "Rousseau's belief in an afterlife encourages people to.

." Why did Rousseau think a civil religion was better than traditional religious practises? And she started to say, "Rousseau believed a civil religion focused on.

." So she's made a little bit of a start, but not much.

And your job is to develop each of her points.

So take as long as you need, pause the video and come back when you're ready to see what you might have written.

So let's have a look what you could have said: What did believe about God? Rousseau believed in a creator who set the universe in motion but did not intervene in everyday life.

What does Rousseau's belief in the afterlife say about how people should live their lives? Rousseau's belief in an afterlife encourages people to live morally, knowing virtuous actions will be rewarded even if society is corrupt.

Why did Rousseau think a civil religion was better than traditional religious practises? While Rousseau believed a civil religion focused on shared moral values that united people rather than dividing them with strict religious rules.

So, well done if you remembered that Rousseau did believe in God and he did believe in an afterlife, but also if you remembered about the civil religion uniting people.

So let's have a look at what we've learned on the philosophy and beliefs of Jean-Jacque Rousseau.

We have learned that, according to Rousseau, humans are naturally good, peaceful, and equal, that civilization corrupts through competition, inequality, and restrictions.

That Rousseau's quotation, "Man is born free and everywhere he is in chains" is a criticism of civilization.

That unlike other Enlightenment thinkers who focused on reason, Rousseau emphasised emotion and natural goodness.

That Rousseau's religious allegiance changed but he remained a Christian and proposed a civil religion focused on shared moral values like fairness and kindness.

And that Socratic questioning can be used to explore Rousseau's view on the state of nature.

So thank you for working with me today through this lesson.

We have learned a lot and you have worked really hard.

Well done.