Study On Rousseau’s Human Nature Perfectibility

If people can improve themselves has always been a debate of all the western philosophers. Jean-Jacques Rousseau had a original interpretation of human nature perfectibility. He created the complete academic system of perfectibility. Under the background of enlightenment, philosophers headed by Voltaire strongly advocated reason and social progress, Rousseau oppositely lead perfectibility to the leading-edge times. He pointed out that the potential perfectibility unique to human, with the help of the accidental events, made human step from the natural state to the social state. Out of the need of self-love and self-preservation, human’s free initiative guided human to reason. The excessive development of reason not only had given rise to social inequality, but led to the decadence of human morality and human nature alienation. When Voltaire still used reason and civilization to fight with ignorance, Rousseau had denounced the artificial civilization and the repugnant reason. This is where Rousseau went beyond Voltaire and the other enlightenment thinkers. Although Rousseau condemned the talent distinguished between human and other animals, he also believed that the only way to achieve human final rescue was fully playing the role of this ability. Therefore, Rousseau put forward his solution:On the one hand, cultivated citizens like Emil who is close to nature and with moral sense through natural and social education; On the other hand, rebuilt a moral community based on the public will through signing the social contract. Accordingly, realized the reconstruction of the internal and external worlds and eventually regained human ideal and the appeal of freedom and equality.Rousseau’s interpretation on human nature perfectibility is a sublimate process of negation of negation:From human nature, to the depravity of human nature, to the return of human nature. Although it contains a lot of abstract and fantasy elements, he forecast the trajectory of the development of humanity from the macro perspective. It also had an important influence on Kant’s moral philosophy. His idea not only has an important influence in the age of 18th enlightenment, but today it also play a valuable role when we face many human problems again.