PHL244H5 Lecture Notes - Lecture 21: On Liberty, Supererogation, Summum Bonum
Document Summary
Important points that we want to take away from rousseau before we cover mill (we"ll be reading two works that complement each other). We saw how rousseau used a possible hypothetical, or partially hypothetical, state of nature to throw light on the fundamentals of our human nature. The idea is a familiar one, clear away the growths (so to speak) that obscure our view of human nature. Growths which have grown up with the advance of civilization, growth which we tend to call conventional, and see what was there before the growths arose and covered over original human nature. We can use this view of theoretical nature and see how it holds up. Rousseau"s version, as well as others, is the idea that to recognize our good (to live the life worth living), we must fulfill or realize our inner nature.
