Rousseau argues that people are born with a predisposition to be good and that people only choose to do evil things when social conditions are unjust. Explain what he means, making sure to address the notions of “right by fact” and “cause for effect”.
Rousseau explained the human tendencies in the state of nature. According to Rousseau, the state of nature that is devoid of corruption, allows people to exhibit their natural attributes. The advent of civilization brought about unnatural tendencies of selfishness, brutal force and unkindness (McLendon, 2018). With the state of civilization and corrupted socialization, it will be impossible for human beings to go back to the state of nature. The increasing state of social injustices and perverted moral standards will confine people in the new state of selfish ambitions and battle for self-preservation.
The principle of cause for effect comes into play as people re-align their behavioral attributes to fit into an environment that is increasingly corrupt and devoid of humanistic concerns for others. The departure of people from principles such as kindness, sympathy and fairness is, therefore, the expected outcome of a decayed social system (Rousseau, 2018). Rousseau proposes a social contract as the only way for people to survive in the new predicament. People will have to give up on some liberties in a bid to obtain a common ground where everyone enjoys self-preservation.
With the new state of affairs, the definition of right or wrong is pegged on factual aspects of the prevailing situation. Facts drives the determination of whether human practices are right and that brings in the notion of right by fact. Rousseau perceived a society where people will be dealing with a lot of divergent opinions on different aspects of life (McLendon, 2018). In that situation, a structured definition of right would enhance peace and tranquility for all. According to Rousseau, the society needs to establish an environment where nobody gets oppressed to avoid pushing people into unnatural tendencies of selfish ambitions.
References
McLendon, M. L. (2018). The Psychology of Inequality: Rousseau's" Amour-Propre". University of Pennsylvania Press.
Rousseau, J. J. (2018). Rousseau: The Social Contract and other later political writings. Cambridge University Press.
