A Comparative Examination of Rousseau’s Views on Civilization and Progress
13 Aralık 2022
Eerij Fatima
Throughout the history of the origin of mankind, there is a prominent difference between the savage and civilized man. Such change in behavior and nature of man was a result of years of revolutionary and evolutionary traits, some caused by nature others introduced by the man himself. Years of evolution and progression gave modern man the ability to feel, think and act. Beginning with an essential grouping of men for survival to tribes, families, and relations, which directly gave birth to societies, communities, and empires, and eventually, as a consequence, ancient cities emerged into generalized urban areas. Furthermore, the reasons for such development and evolution are argued by several researchers which provide various in-depth analyses. Some prominent works are by Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Henri Lefebvre, H. D. F Kitto, and Gordon Childe which provide different insights mainly representing the political and socio-economical views on the progress of our civilization.
Rousseau in his book, “Discourse on the Origin of inequality” depicts the events, beginning with savages till civilization, of how inequality was introduced to man through the progression of time and human development and opposes the idea of such behavior being part of human nature. According to Rousseau the first civil society came into existence due to the introduction of the ability to own land and call it their own “the true founder of civil society was the first man who having enclosed a piece of land, though of saying ‘this is mine’” (2009, p. 55). Civilization occurred in stages over a period of time and this is an important aspect in the historical timeline as land and property gave rise to feelings of jealousy and competition which eventually led to differences among men. In the early stages, the time period of the savages, “Man’s first sentiment was that of his existence” (2009, p. 55) this shows that one would form groups and socialize only to complete objectives, in their case hunger and sustenance, and then revert to their lifestyle without making any connections with others like love, attraction or any other relations. However, when the need to interact and form bonds became imperative for survival, the primary way of nature fell apart. Rousseau talks about the changes in nature like the “height of trees…competition from animals seeking to feed on these fruits” (Rousseau, 2009, p. 56) and how this altered the method of engagement of man; as it added violence and the need to hurt others in order to sustain oneself. This also introduced the concept of competition and the need to be the strongest or the most powerful to survive, which later became the basis of inequality in society. Climate changes also significantly brought about changes in human behavior, “Differences in terrain, soils, climates and seasons might have forced man to adopt different ways of living” (Rousseau, 2009, p. 56) it is evident that as time progressed new obstacles arose, and the man had to reshape to such changes to survive; for survival added many new ways of living, which led to the discovery of fire, fishing, hunting using bow and arrows. With a such desire to change and adapt, man developed “precautions most crucial for his safety” (Rousseau, 2009, p. 56) this feeling of being safe was a step towards being able to think before acting, which highlights the traits of civilized beings. Similarly, being able to apply logic and gain a sense of superiority which was the beginning of an era where one gained pride over others for his accomplishments and strived to be better. Gradually, forming groups and relations became essential to the matter of life and death, “slowly came together, gathered in various clusters” (Rousseau, 2009, p. 60) vividly depicts how one shifted from savagery to becoming a social animal, interacting with others and forming groups based upon common methods, which gave life to their own customs and characters. Such engagement gave way to new feelings of love and attraction. It is important to note that different actions led to new discoveries of one’s thoughts and feelings that man once never knew of; however, according to Rousseau, such bonding introduced jealousy, anguish, and violence which divided the people and created disunity.
Additionally, the true division of man started with the divided land and the difference between the poor and rich. Rousseau’s key idea is that man should have led a simple life in its primary nature as it was both safe and tranquil. “where there is no property, there is no injury” (Rousseau, 2009, p. 61) illustrates the untrue nature that savages were violent and bloodthirsty since the beginning, in contrast, they were gentle and minded their own business but due to the desire to achieve a civilized society, it in return introduced greed, competition, and envy which led to more harm than good. The man was also introduced to metal and crops, which he made use of through agriculture and the smelting of iron ores. Moreover, it was due to iron and wheat which led to trade dealings, and cultivation and paved the way for settlements and civilizations because when man became busy working on iron ores, he could not provide food and so, to counteract, he discovered agricultural ways of social surplus. On the contrary, as per Rousseau, agriculture and cultivation introduced the right or claimed property and the meaning of ownership. This term was later applied to possessions, people (slaves), and laws. “natural inequality gradually leads to inequality in rank” (Rousseau, 2009, p. 65), the agricultural era initiated ranks depending on who worked in the fields, and this division among men increased when one performed tasks better due to physical strength creating inequality, as now there was a class divide of superior and inferior. This led to the fundamental ways in which civilizations were built, with class divisions between the working class and the rich upper class, these developments led to the early stages of a political city, aimed at protecting the rights and freedom of slaves, and removing inequality among the now chaotic society. “From this arose wars between nations, battles, killings, reprisals that make nature shudder” (Rousseau, 2009, p. 70) depicts how political societies and their laws and regulations gave more way to violence and bloodshed as a result of undisputed land, unequal rights and fraudulent laws, which not only divided man under groups but increased the resentment between one another creating distrust. The reason why civil society did not work towards the betterment of its community is that laws were not revised and provided little to no interest for the poor, slaves, or the crimes committed as there was no past experience, and these laws were derived upon chance as the crimes were carried out. Laws for inheritance contributed to slavery and inequality as, a child born of a slave will inherit the same fate “the child of a slave would be born a slave” (Rousseau, 2009, p. 75) this is against the laws of nature as everyone has the right to freedom and life, hence it is evident that as civilization progressed and integrated rules and laws using politics it just gave way for more injustice. In addition, to control the developing civil state the magistrate was formed, where a group or a single man possessing “wealth, nobility or rank, power, and personal merit” (Rousseau, 2009, p. 80) was appointed as the arbitrary power and lawmakers of society. However, this only led to the imbalance of rank and the rights of individuals quenched under power. New laws made the rich richer while the status of the poor remained. Rousseau’s view on such civil corporates is “homelands defenders became the enemy” (2009, p. 81) which highlights how the lust for power evoked greed to become more powerful and successful, which in due course ruined the society because it created terror among its own people, which is evident by the fact that the citizens belonging to such areas had to give up their rights and freedom in exchange for their own security and preservation.
V. Gordon Childe in his publishing “the urban revolution” shares similar views to Jean-Jacques Rousseau, as he aims to convey how the civilization progressed, using agricultural and economic means, to a much more advanced industrial society. Similar to Rousseau, Childe categorizes the evolution of man under 3 stages, “savagery, barbarism, and civilization” (1996, p. 24), and provided that savages and barbarians were distinguished based on how they met their hunger requirements as well as the sources and techniques they used. This idea is parallel to Rousseau’s concept of how early man was known to only think about his need to survive. The text provides the example of “Australian corroberees” (Childe, 1996, p. 25) who would unite to socialize on special occasions and communicate after which they would return to their original nature. This example is in accordance with Rousseau’s writings on the origins of man. Childe talks about the consequences of the “Neolithic revolution” which encourages bigger groups to travel and find inhabitable areas; the process of migration. This act was carried out due to the growing population and its needs and in order to solve the diminishing surplus and area requirements. After settlement, both savages and barbarians had to contribute to their community one way or another whether they are “specialists” or not. Although this concept agrees with Rousseau’s idea of depending upon others for survival, Childe depicts this act as a form of unity and brotherhood between populations. The apparent progress shown in civilizations is the ability to master artistry or the curiosity to gain knowledge. “advance barbarians” became full-time professionals and demanded to be exempted from tasks to gather social surplus. However, such professions were practiced at the cost of their protection and property, which reiterates how even premature forms of studies were so important, that one gave up their belonging to an area. On the contrary, to protect the rights and living situation of such professionals the urban revolution came into existence which led to the industrial and urban societies. It was due to the urban revolution; a new class order began where certain peasants worked to provide food while the working class carried out their artistry in central areas. Childe also introduces new key concepts related to the progression of civilization; the discovery of writing and the steps taken toward industrialization. Writing was a major initiative towards preserving customs, and lifestyle and keeping records of the revenues generated in their civilization. This is of significance as it shows the development of man from barbarism to a civilized cultured being. “Writing is thus a significant, as well as a convenient mark of civilization” (Childe, 1996, p.29). With such methods of recording knowledge man achieved wisdom and developed an interest in fields of science and education; which as a result, brought forth topics of “arithmetic, geometry and astronomy” (Childe, 1996. P.29). At this point, the man had the desire to comprehend and understand more about its surroundings and nature itself. This inaugurated the discovery of calendars and mathematics, a substantial step towards an educated society. Early forms of an industrial city possessed signs of new rules for the craftsman and specialists “the city was a community to which craftsman could belong” (Childe, 1996, p.29) this illustrates the growth of civilization as before, the working class was not given a place in communities if they did not contribute to the food labor, whereas now they not only had a place of belonging but also security as well as economic and political placement.
H.D.F Kitto in his book “The Polis” explores the reasons why ancient Greece was divided into communities, concentrating on geographical, economic, and the ways of the Greeks. However, Rousseau’s views are conflicting as he expressed the reasons to be mainly due to inequality, which led to the such grouping of men into different communities. Kitto explains the economical need to start forming small communities due to the lack of resources, which “enabled quite a small area to be reasonably self-sufficient for a people” (1957, p. 42) depicts the economic restraints as a result of the terrain and difficulty in transporting goods, enabled only the small communities to be self-supporting as they were less populated and needed fewer food materials to sustain. This led to the formation of many small poleis, which were later taken over and integrated into empires. The Greeks were illustrated to have their homeland for a greater period of time and as Kitto portrays, they utilized this time frame to experiment with different methods and conditions to sustain themselves. Their journey outlines how man went through many trials and errors before reaching a city-state condition, which conveys the hardworking and consistent nature of the ancient Greek individuals. However, Rousseau proceeds to claim that although man did discover many methods through evaluation they did not necessarily help to sustain the system of life, his idea is witnessed through the chaos in the political cities mentioned in the Discourse on the Origin of Inequality. The Polis also appointed a government for the security of its people “entrusted to a monarch” (Kitto, 1957, p. 43) which highlights the last stage of inequality according to Rousseau; as when an arbitrary power takes over a state, he treats everyone else as his inferior slaves no matter their rank or class, as he portrays himself as the only master or god. “it was the common assumptions of the Greeks that the polis took its origin in desire for justice” (Kitto, 1957, p. 43) this is an important concept to underline when discussing the behavior of the Greeks, as it shows how they took the initiative to dissolve crimes and introduced laws to protect and restore unity. However, Rousseau believed that it was due to such lawmakers that inequality tainted the progress of civilization. The polis ensured that their center was open to foreigners, unlike Spartans, “We throw open to all our common cultural life” (Kitto, 1957, p.44). However, they had a hidden motive behind such welcoming nature. They aimed to attract others through their games and performances, which in return encouraged trade and settlement in their civilization, benefitting not only their economy but also their social surplus. This method is used in modern days as Tourism. Kitto explores the ways of the Greeks in terms of their thinking abilities and religious incorporations to the polis. Every small community was known to have its own gods and saviors alongside their common Olympian god. The number of gods was soon incorporated into several deities as these communities became a part of urban culture or empires. Their behaviors were heavily influenced by the past actions of their gods and can be considered to play an important role in the methods leading to the progress of civilization.
Henri Lefebvre’s “From the City to Urban Society” vividly illustrates the transition of a political city to an industrial city, using key aspects of the economy, agriculture, and urbanization. He analyzes how progress shows the integration of agricultural production, which once sustained the previous forms of human nature, into the industrial sector. This way they increased the surplus and food demands were met as population growth increased. With such increasing economic growth, the farmers or peasants were relieved from their duty to the state and could now work on their land for their own benefit as they were not slaves to any government authority. This shows the advantageous effects of the growing industries on the poor class. Such developments took human civilization towards the Urban revolution. “the words ‘urban revolution’ do not in themselves refer to actions that are violent. Nor do they exclude them.” (Lefebvre, 1970, p.5) this shows that as the communities grew they aimed to solve the new obstacles that arose with time, however, these apparent solutions may be the basis of violence in future as Rousseau had outlined, that each time man strays away from his primitive ways and nature, chaos and violence will follow. Lefebvre provides a scale for the progress of man, he explores the initial zero as the time period of early man; savages and illustrates how they explored different areas in search of food and sustenance. Their actions were important for later civilizations as the lands explored were the same areas where farmers later worked to support the urban revolution and the very “existence of the city” (Lefebvre, 1970, p. 7). it was due to these early inhabitants that civilizations could emerge into the modern world as it would not have been possible if ancient man did not explore the ways to grow their own food. Lefebvre portrays the political city as the one which “administers, protects, and exploits a territory that is often vast” (1970, p. 8) this is similar to Rousseau’s view on how political government exploited the poor and fought territorial wars which created distrust, disunity and fragmented the communities. As urbanization occurred man found more ways to attract people to the city center and in order to obtain a full urban society the market and merchants had to be integrated within the city. Furthermore, man had to focus on the architectural point of view to attract a greater amount of people. Lefebvre writes about how the city could write which is the same concept Childe depicts in his text. He shows how the early urban society created methods of drawing maps which illustrate how the minds of people progressed with time as now they showed signs of knowledge, thought, and understanding of how their ways need to be preserved. It is stated that the political city progressed into the mercantile city and from there onwards, industrialization and urbanization took place which resulted in the industrial city. The apparent reason for the shift from the mercantile to industrial was that soon the lawmakers and citizens realized that incorporating industries within the city will reduce labor costs and transportation to markets would be easy. Hence, they applied logic and critical thinking for the ways in which their actions will affect the future. However, even though the city was flourishing Lefebvre outlies the customs lost to the past “loses the features it inherited from the previous period: organic totality, belonging, an uplifting image, a sense of space that was measured sand dominated by monumental splendor” (1970, p.14) this agrees with Rousseau point of view of how the modern man loses its ways of living and goes astray from the path shown by nature.
Throughout the course of humanity, from the early savages to the developed civilization, man has used many methods to progress forward, from hunting to agricultural uses, from introverted behavior to social beings, from groups to civilizations, and from barbarians to civil lawmakers. The analysis provided by Rousseau not only provided in-depth detail of the different stages of development in human nature but also linked their progression to the origin of modern-day inequality while H.D.F. Kitto and Henri Lefebvre introduced us to another key aspect of such developments mainly highlighting the role of religion, geography, economy and how the discovery of writing paved the way forward for humanity.
References
Childe, V. G. (1996). The urban revolution. In F. Stout & R. T. LeGates (Eds.), The city reader (2nd ed., pp. 22-31). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315748504
Kitto, H. D. F. (1957). The Greeks. University of Washington
Lefebvre, H. (1970). From the City to Urban Society. In The urban revolution (pp. 1-22). University of Minnesota Press.
Rousseau, J. J. (2009). Discourse on the origin of inequality. Oxford University Press.