Rousseau's theory of inequality and human civilization development

¶ … Progress

Jean-Jacques Rousseau on the Origin of Inequality

There are apparent relations that exist between human beings and nature and also among themselves. In these relations also exists differences especially among human beings which attract a lot of attention and need explanations since if all are human beings then why the differences that exist among them. If all mankind have the same will and are from the same source, be it the evolutionary or the supernatural source, then there should be equal opportunities that would make man have equal chances and hence same lifestyle within the community, however, this is not the situation hence the need to get an explanation as to why these differences and discrepancies that exist between people. There have been various attempts to explain what brings the differences between people and among the philosophers that have given famous and renowned explanations is Jean-Jacques Rousseau in his famous writing of Origin of Inequality.

Rousseau first classified the inequalities that exist among people into two major categories; the physical or natural inequality that is established by nature and is characterized by observable traits such as bodily strength, health, age and the qualities of the soul and mind. The other is the political or moral inequality since it is established on agreed upon conventions and it is accepted or authorized by men themselves within the society. The political inequality is characterized by a few enjoying some privileges to the detriment or prejudice of others who are always the majority, for instance being richer than the rest, more respected and honored, more powerful or even being in a position to exact respect and allegiance from the rest.

In this text, there is further illustration on the close relationship that exists between human evolution and the development of inequality among men. He explains that as man became more civilized and developed due to evolution, so did their ways of dealing with nature and fellow mankind that exacerbated the inequality. The text explains the creation of the modern man through conquest of nature and dominating activities that destroyed nature resulting in limited resources hence the inequality that comes with this. Rousseau dismisses the biblical explanation of the occurrence of man and attempts to trace back man to the nature and than natural status that they were originally in. In a nutshell, he argues that the needs of man become increasingly complex as they develop and modernize and intricately intertwined such that the opinion of others is very important (Jean-Jacques Rousseau, 1754).

Paintings of Caspar David Friedrich

Casper was a German romantic artist who lied in the early 1800s and died in 1840 having done a significant number of paintings. His paintings had a stunning attachment to nature and this was a characteristic that was common across his paintings. Being a romantic artist, he used panting to express his thoughts about nature and its supremacy over the life of mankind. In order to practically see how he appropriated nature to suit his themes in paintings, two of his main paintings will be used here; 'The Monk by the Sea' and 'The Stages of Life'.

'The Monk by the Sea'

This is one of the most analyzed and talked about painting done by Casper among his many paintings. It depicts a human being, often identified as the monk here just as the tittle suggests, standing in front of a wide sea and a vast sky. The horizon on this landscape is abnormally low giving way to a huge sky filled with dark grey clouds overhanging the sea. The monk is dismal, barely recognizable despite being the title of the painting. He is also painted with his back to the viewer and his face and body towards the wide sea (Web Gallery of Art, 2013). The monk here has been argued by many that he could be Casper himself contemplating about the dismal nature of his human existence in relation to the vats nature.

The painting draws its inspiration, communication and theme from nature. The vastness of nature that makes the human existence seem dismal is portrayed in the painting. The monk, who represents the human existence in the face of nature, is seen to be very minute and insignificant in the painting as compared to the natural background upon which the monk is superimposed.

The message that Casper wanted to pass across in this painting is that in as much as there is a close relationship, indeed one that cannot be stopped, between man and nature, there is also need to know that nature reigns supreme over man. Man therefore needs to go back to nature, as the monk went back to the sea, in order to rediscover themselves, and one of the rediscoveries as expressed in this painting is that human kind plays second after nature.

'The Stages of Life'

This is yet another painting by Casper that has elicited a lot of debate and attracted many analysts who study paintings. Just like the previous one, it is also based on nature. The painting is basically based by the seaside just like the previous one looked at. It has one old man walking towards two adults and two children on a hill situated next to the sea hence his back is to the viewer. In the sea right ahead of the walking old man are five boats arranged in a receding manner from the shore to the high seas.

It is characteristic of Casper's paintings to emphasize more on the nature as compared to man. The same is seen in this painting where the human figures are dwarfed against the vast sea and sky and the landscape in general. Here again we see Casper treating nature as divine above humankind hence should act as a source of inspiration to man and each man should go back to nature (Silver and Exact, 2013).

Taking into account the title of the painting, it is apparent that in all stages of life of a human being, nature stands supreme and transcends the passing stages of human life. The old man is seen to be heading back into the sea, like the ships in the sea recede one after the other into the high seas. This is an indication of the vanity of the human life that submits to nature when lifetime is over leaving the everlasting nature intact. This is the natural fate that will befall the young children playing by the sea as well when their days are done. This is an inalienable relation between man and nature as Rousseau depicted in his argument, man and nature have an attachment that only ends at the end of the life of man, leaving nature intact. And these are the stages of life.

Film

"Our Daily Bread " by Nikolaus Geyrhalter

Rousseau indicated in his view of life and inequality that one of the main proponents of inequality is civilization that came with industrialization among other mechanization and use of advanced tools well over and above those that were innately natural. This documentary gives a clearer depiction of how the introduction of mechanization into the food production shifts the relationship between man and nature from that of equal sharing of available food and food sources to vast ownership by few people of the means of production for capitalistic gains (YouTube, 2012).

The documentary concentrates on primary food production, both the vegetable and animal foods. The director uses a still camera and records what happens which he later relays to the viewer as it is without adding any captions or voiceovers. He lets the process roll on as the viewer exercises his discretion to comment within his mind on the integrity or otherwise of the means of production of the primary foods depicted in the one and half an hour documentary.

At the end of the documentary, it is apparent that the relationship of man to nature has vastly been reshaped by the introduction of mechanization of production. The manner in which man treats animals, land and even fellow human beings is in a manner geared towards maximization of production for the owner of the farm. This maximization of production on land, animals and fellow man for a single individual creates the moral or political inequality that was pointed out by Rousseau since a few people will be able to control great wealth hence have the influence over others. Everything within the farm as depicted in the documentary is done for commercial gain from nature, from the rearing of hens, breeding of cows, pigs to the vegetable production in the fields. This exerts pressure on nature to satisfy the greed of a few people hence bringing forth inequality.