Response Paper #6

How does Rousseau justify that man is best in his natural, uncivilized state?

Rousseau argues that man is best in his natural, uncivilized state. He argues this by comparing savage man to civilized man and revealing how many problems civilized man creates compared to savage man. Natural man has many talents and a tendency to avoid conflict which makes him promising compared to civilized man who gets involved in many conflicts.

Firstly, in terms of physical strengths and capabilities, uncivilized man is far superior.

Man is strong and capable because he is forced to use his own might to accomplish certain tasks that enable his survival. He is said to have “all one’s forces constantly at one’s command” which makes him unbeatable if he were to fight civilized man in his unarmed state (82). Additionally, while uncivilized man does not have a wealth of possessions, he is naturally equipped to brave the elements, for example in the winter if man is cold he will grow hair to keep himself warm and he will also be resourceful to find goods that surround him like fur. In contrast civilized man is reliant upon possessions which makes him lazy and unable to solve problems with the same wit as uncivilized man.

Man in his original state is so simple that he wants nothing but to survive. Wants and desires lead people astray from their instincts and they can cause people to act without thinking. Rousseau uses the example of how people develop illnesses from making silly choices like eating unhealthy and staying up late just to satisfy illogical desires. He argues that for civilized humans “most of [their] ills are of [their] own making” (84-85). Meanwhile natural man has no desires, he only has instincts. He encounters no problems and he creates no problems for himself because he is so simple. He has no desire to be selfish or competitive and thus he can remain triumphant in society.

Savage man is content to wander and survive meanwhile developed man constantly looks to make progress. Rousseau argues that man’s decision to enclose land for private property is the cause of all social problems. He notes “how much misery and horror the human race would have been spared” if people could have just continued sharing the land (109). Meanwhile savage man never desires property for himself so he never creates any social problems. Savage man’s ability to share is important because it avoids creating disparities between people who own land and people who do not.

Since he is so easily content, savage man does not waste his time with leisure. He does not know enough to do much else besides wander and survive. Meanwhile civilized man with all of his developments has time for leisure. This spare time gave him the chance to develop commodities which were “the first source of the evil” because it placed value on possessions and created a social disparity (113). Unlike civilized man savage man has no possessions and still he is content.

Uncivilized man’s passive demeanor makes him far superior to civilized man. His physical strength and inability to be selfish peg him as a model citizen.