Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s Theory Of The Noble Savage
Regarding the history of Europe, the theory of the noble savage proposed by Jean-Jacques Rousseau It is one of the pieces of political philosophy that has most influenced not only our conception of what politics should be, but also what we believe is “natural” and “artificial” and the implications that this distinction has on our lives..
Next we will review the concept of “noble savage” that Rousseau used in his writings. But let’s start with the basics.
In mid-18th century Europe, the scientific and intellectual movement known as the Enlightenment had already begun to undermine the power that religion had maintained in explaining human nature. The Christian dogmas that appeared in the Bible or in its more or less arbitrary interpretations were no longer justified by themselves; it was necessary to base knowledge on empirical observations
Jean-Jacques Rousseau was one of the great representatives of the Enlightenment. Born in 1712 in Geneva, he had a busy youth His mother was born before he was one year old, and his father abandoned him shortly after, so he was cared for by his uncle. At the age of sixteen he ran away from home and ended up first in France and then in Venice. His intention during those years was to create a name for himself as a musician.
In the year 1740, Rousseau met Jean d’Alembert and Denis Diderot, two encyclopedists (in charge of creating the first encyclopedias in history), and as a result of their influence he began to become interested in philosophy. His ideas were transgressive even in the era of the Enlightenment, among other things because, as we will see, Rousseau was very critical of the idea of progress made through scientific and technological improvement.
Rousseau’s texts had a great impact in the political and social sphere, but The controversies they aroused were also intense That is why he was moving from one country to another because of the expulsions he suffered. For a time he lived in England under the refuge of David Hume, but even this refuge did not last long, since both philosophers argued and the Swiss had to return to France using a false name (he was not allowed to be in the country).. After several years the authorities allowed him to stay in Paris, where he died in 1778.
Rousseau’s noble savage theory
These are the main theoretical foundations of the noble savage theory.
1. Politics is the management of authority and force
Rousseau, like many other political philosophers of his generation, placed great importance on the concept of the “social contract.” The social contract is the hypothetical agreement between citizens and power holders that makes states possible and have a stable structure
For Rousseau, then, both the existence of the State and of politics implies that there are certain people who force the rest to behave in a way, in principle, for the good of the majority.
The existence of private property means that the State must create mechanisms to protect it. And since this mission is one of the great pillars of society, When creating laws, the perspective of those who have more property is adopted That is, the rich. This, of course, implies that the interests of a minority prevail over those of the majority, who have the least property per head. Citizens only exist as long as they have private property.
3. Systemic violence in society
Since it is difficult to know what is done for the good of the majority and what is not, on the one hand, and one cannot demand responsibility for everything the State does, on the other, corruption and injustice are frequent Furthermore, these injustices are not only committed by the bosses towards civilians: the existence of economic and democratic deficiencies generates a chain effect, which is why violence between citizens is also common.
Thus, for civilization and States to exist, it is necessary that there be a certain degree of injustice and violence, given that there is a imbalance between people who dominate others and others who are dominated, by not taking advantage of the mechanisms of oppression that society already offers before we are even born Laws cause relationship dynamics to appear between people that are unfair.
4. Man is born free, but lives in chains
From the above, Rousseau concludes that we come into the world with a good predisposition to morally good behavior, but that society corrupts us to force us to participate in its game.
It should be noted that for Rousseau the idea of “noble savage” does not refer to a type of human being that necessarily had to exist at some remote moment in our history, nor does it perfectly define tribal behavior. It is a hypothetical assumption, something that serves to understand the nature of the State, and not to know how we lived before.
