The idea that society and civilization is the problem of human existence, the idea that all society is a dialectic of power struggle, and the idea that rationality is “whiteness” and oppressive is not Marxist but Rousseauian. The postmodernists owed more to Rousseau than they did Marx. While it is true that aspects of Rousseau influenced Marx, Marx breaks with Rousseau on many important issues. Marx, for one, was an analyst of capitalism and industrial economic systems. Rousseau was a critic of society and everything that was encapsulated in society.
For Rousseau, society is the superstructure of slavery. The basis of this superstructure is private property. The origins of inequality, un-freedom, and dependence (e.g. subjugation to others whereby we lose equality and freedom) are rooted in property ownership. Property ownership emerged from the first display of coercive force over others. Thus, force is at the basis of civil society which is not governed by the law of nature which is pity. Until this issue is redressed no “society” is legitimate. Until we can become independent of each other once again, we will never be free and equal. Rousseau was indispensable for providing the intellectual groundwork for the Jacobins during the French Revolution who revered him as a prophet.
Hesiod, Paul Krause in real life, is the editor of VoegelinView and a writer on art, culture, literature, politics, and religion for numerous journals, magazines, and newspapers. He is the author of The Odyssey of Love and the Politics of Plato, and a contributor to the College Lecture Today and the forthcoming book Diseases, Disasters, and Political Theory. He holds master’s degrees in philosophy and theology (biblical & religious studies) from the University of Buckingham and Yale, and a bachelor’s degree in economics, history, and philosophy from Baldwin Wallace University.
