Many atill think Rousseau was an enlightenment thinker, but his legacy lives through Kant, Hegel, and Marx. Why? Because at its core, Rousseau’s philosophy promotes the idea of unlimited Man and unlimited government—a radical departure from Enlightenment liberalism.
2. Enlightenment liberalism focused on limiting government to protect individual rights. Rousseau flipped this: he saw government as the instrument to bring about a moral transformation, where individual freedom is subsumed into the “general will.” Sound familiar?
3. Rousseau's belief in unlimited Man laid the groundwork for Kant’s moral philosophy and Hegel’s idea of the State as a manifestation of Spirit. For Rousseau, man's freedom isn’t about limiting power; it’s about achieving a higher moral unity through the collective.
4. This idea evolves in Kant's philosophy, which proposes that true freedom comes from aligning with universal moral laws. Rousseau’s “general will” becomes Kant’s moral imperative. The individual is bound not to a limited state but to an infinite moral ideal.
5. Enter Hegel: he takes Rousseau’s vision of moral unity and Kant’s universal laws to the next level. For Hegel, the State is not just a collection of individuals but the realization of universal Spirit. Rousseau’s unlimited Man becomes Hegel’s unlimited State.
6. Rousseau’s roots are not Enlightenment rationalism but something esoteric: his philosophy is deeply gnostic, seeking hidden truths about human nature and society. His concept of the "general will" has a religious, mystical quality—a kind of social alchemy.
7. This gnostic-alchemical thinking persists in Hegel and finds its way into Marx. For Marx, history is a process of transformation, where the “material” world will eventually reflect humanity's true nature—an echo of Rousseau’s vision for remaking man and society.
8. Rousseau’s ideas aren’t about practical governance or protecting rights; they are about an idealistic transformation of the world. This is why his legacy flows into German Idealism. He sought not to limit power but to channel it towards “moral ends.”
9. In contrast to Enlightenment liberalism, which stresses the limits of human reason and government, Rousseau promotes a philosophy of “unlimited potential.” Man is infinitely malleable; the State is infinitely perfectible. That’s the root of his break from the Enlightenment.
10. Rousseau’s vision of the “general will” is not a call for Liberalism—it’s a call for a transcendent unity where the individual will dissolves. This idea flows into Hegel’s view of the State as the embodiment of Spirit, and Marx’s concept of Man's "species-being."
11. Rousseau is often considered a champion of liberty, but it's a very different liberty than the Founding Fathers envisioned. His liberty isn’t about individual rights but aligning oneself with the “true” collective will—a spiritual liberation from self-interest.
12. Rousseau, in essence, introduces a gnostic worldview to political philosophy: society is fallen, and it can only be redeemed through a hermetic, alchemical process where the individual merges with the “general will.” This leads to Kant, Hegel, and ultimately Marx.
13. The Founding Fathers viewed government as a necessary evil—a limited institution to safeguard individual liberty. Rousseau sees it as a means of achieving a higher, almost mystical, moral unity. It’s a philosophy that lends itself to unlimited government, not limited power.
14. Rousseau is not an Enlightenment liberal. His thought leads directly to the idealism of Kant and Hegel and the revolutionary socialism of Marx. He envisions a total transformation of society—a gnostic-alchemical process that rejects the liberal tradition.
15. Rousseau’s legacy is not one of liberty through restraint but of liberation through the dissolution of the self into a collective ideal. That’s a direct path to the philosophies that would later challenge and reject Enlightenment liberalism altogether.
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