Rousseau's Theodicy of Self-Love: Evil, Rationality, and the Drive for Recognition Hardcover

Frederick Neuhouser

This book is the first comprehensive study of Rousseau's rich and complex theory of the type of self-love (amour propre ) that, for him, marks the central difference between humans and the beasts. Amour propre is the passion that drives human individuals to seek the esteem, approval, admiration, or love-the recognition -of their fellow beings. Neuhouser reconstructs Rousseau's understanding of what the drive for recognition is, why it is so problematic, and how its presence opens up far-reaching developmental possibilities for creatures that possess it. One of Rousseau's central theses is that amour propre in its corrupted, manifestations-pride or vanity-is the principal source of an array of evils so widespread that they can easily appear to be necessary

English

OUP Oxford