PHL265H5 Midterm: MIDTERM NOTES - HOBBES AND ROUSSEAU
Document Summary
Rousseau discourse on the origin of inequality. In the beginning, state of nature is actually a good place to be (unlike the state of nature that hobbes depicts in his work). According to rousseau, it is the highest form of freedom. However, this changes when governments and social groups are formed. The state of nature has immense forests with lots of resources that are untouched by the axe. This is enough to provide sustenance and shelter. Men in the state of nature can also observe industry such as the animals around them to survive. Each species of animal has a set of instincts they follow like which foods to eat. The human being observes and imitates the behavior of all species, and thus, finds it even more easier to find sustenance on the basis of the instincts and behaviours of several species, not just one.
