|
Socialists Want Forced Conformity
Be that as it may, Rousseau invests
the creators, organizers, directors, legislators, and controllers
of society with a terrible responsibility. He is, therefore, most
exacting with them: "He who would dare to undertake the
political creation of a people ought to believe that he can, in a
manner of speaking, transform human nature; transform each
individual—who, by himself, is a solitary and perfect
whole—into a mere part of a greater whole from which the
individual will henceforth receive his life and being. Thus the
person who would undertake the political creation of a people
should believe in his ability to alter man’s constitution;
to strengthen it; to substitute for the physical and independent
existence received from nature, an existence which is partial and
moral.* In short, the would- be creator of political man must
remove man’s own forces and endow him with others that are
naturally alien to him."
Poor human nature! What would
become of a person’s dignity if it were entrusted to the
followers of Rousseau?
*Translator’s note: According
to Rousseau, the existence of social man is partial in the sense
that he is henceforth merely a part of society. Knowing himself
as such—and thinking and feeling from the point of view of
the whole - he thereby becomes moral.
Clark Simmons, Webmaster
Copyright© 2000, The XLData Net |
Back
Return To: