BF199 Lecture Notes - Lecture 12: Montesquieu, Introjection, Forego
Document Summary
State of nature: discontent with civilization because of the unhappiness that it produces leads to a fantasy of returning to an idyllic state of nature. Against rousseau: probably the loudest discontent against freud is arguing is jean-jacques. Rousseau, an enlightenment thinker who could easily have been on the syllabus as the anti-hobbes : but this critique is surprising, as freud"s. So the state of nature : without the codified regulation of social relations, the will of the strongest individual dominates. Liberty of the individual or rational organization of society: individual liberty is not an asset of civilization. It was greatest before there was any civilization, but even then, it was worthless because no one was in a position to defend it. Individual freedom; ability to be ourselves and make decisions and express ourselves: so even if we could, restricting everything would make life joyless, so we must leave some space for individual freedom.
