O problema da liberdade no Segundo Discurso de Rousseau

Abstract

The question on which this work focuses is the possibility for men to understand and delimit what the Genevan philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau understands as his Discourse on the Origin of Inequality Between Men. The philosopher presents a solitary natural man and, for this and others reasons, a men free, given his most basic survival. However, hypothetically, Rousseau narrates the disastrous events that end up making the history of human development itself a history of moral fall and degeneration, as well as the definitive separation from their freedom. It is necessary to understand what existed before these fortuitous events that led humanity to its current state of slavery and dependence, passing through the role of passions, human nature itself and the emergence of society. Understanding such points leads us to realize that the type of freedom present in the Second Discourse is a pure, natural freedom, without argumentative juggling that aims to console those who feel its suppression in the civilized world.