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Home / History of Political Thought, Volume 41, Number 4

'I BELIEVE I HAVE DEMONSTRATED IT': THE STATUS OF ROUSSEAU'S ORIGINAL STATE OF NATURE

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Author: Brennan, T.

Source: History of Political Thought, Volume 41, Number 4, 2020, pp. 588-621(34)

Publisher: Imprint Academic

Abstract: According to an important strand of scholarship, the original state of nature in Rousseau's Discourse on Inequality is not meant to be a real historical condition. In my view, however, this interpretation obscures the grounds of Rousseau's natural-law scepticism, the import of his 'great principle' (the natural goodness of man), and the character of the consent he thinks necessary for a legitimate republic.

Keywords: Rousseau; inequality; liberalism; natural law; republicanism; state of nature

Document Type: Research Article

Affiliations: Department of Politics, University of Virginia, 1540 Jefferson Park Avenue, Charlottesville, VA 22904, USA., Email: [email protected]

Publication date: 2020

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