Human Nature - Rousseau
“Although some few natural inequalities among individual human beings are inevitable, Rousseau argued that the far more significant moral and political inequalities are purely conventional in origin. Savage human beings, like animals of any species, are well-adapted by nature to their surroundings in the natural world. In the absence of any discursive reasoning about themselves, such beings have no need for morality or a concept of duty. Their lives are wholly guided by their feelings of pity and love for each other, and conventional inequalities do not arise.”
A person’s chief concern in state nature is self preservation. One is governed by immediate wants and instincts, or feelings.
The purpose of the state is to preserve order in society. This, Rousseau insisted, is not enough to “keep the peace”. Not only should there be laws of the state, but divine law must come into play as well, so to give the individual a sense of their own morality.
For example, the state punishes those who steal. What if that person is not caught? Then is stealing right? This then, is where morality comes into play with ethical issues. Once again, Rousseau states clearly that for a government to function properly, the combining balance between individual freedom, laws of the state, and divine law must exist.
