Jean-Jacques Rousseau: A Friend of Virtue - Hardcover

"Joseph R. Reisert sheds much light on Rousseau's understanding of how to educate people to virtue within societies whose devotion to virtue is somewhat less than singleminded. Among the many strengths of the book is its treatment of the underappreciated role of friendship in moral education. Reisert demonstrates that Rousseau hoped to educate his readers to virtue by establishing himself as their wise friend." -- Laurence D. Cooper, author of Rousseau, Nature, and the Problem of the Good Life. "Joseph Reisert's book is a compact, interesting analysis of Rousseau and of the place that virtue plays in his diagnosis of and prescription for modern society. The author's analysis of human nature as dynamic rather than static, his analysis of the consequences of amour-propre, and his chapter on friendship are very, very good indeed." -- Tracy B. Strong, University of California, San Diego "Reisert (Colby College) argues in this well-written volume that many hints on how to resolve a tension between virtue and liberalism can be found in the works of Jean-Jacques Rousseau....His analysis of Rousseau is nuanced, sympathetic, and will not be easily dismissed. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above." * Choice *

Scholars have long debated the contribution Rousseau has made to political thought. Is he a theorist of radical individualism, a reactionary advocate for authoritarianism, or just a brilliantly paradoxical but ultimately incoherent controversialist? In the first book devoted to discussion of Rousseau's conception of virtue, Joseph R. Reisert argues that Rousseau's work offers a coherent political theory that both complements and challenges key elements of contemporary liberalism.Drawing on his deep familiarity with Rousseau's work, Reisert maintains that Rousseau's primary concern was to discover the psychological foundations of virtue, which he understood as the strength of will needed to respect the rights of others. Reisert reconstructs the model of the human soul that underpins Rousseau's account of virtue, a model he considers superior to the alternatives conceived by Aristotle, Hobbes, Locke, Montesquieu, Kant, and Rawls. Rousseau, the author explains, believed that life in modern societies undermines virtue, but that for individuals to thrive, and for free societies to endure, all would require moral education. Rousseau, who styled himself "a friend of virtue," sought to impart virtue to his readers through the examples of his literary characters Emile and Julie.Reisert finds that Rousseau's thought poses a dilemma for modern politics: democratic governments can do little to cultivate virtue directly, yet liberal society continues to need it. The requisite moral teaching, Reisert concludes, should be provided instead by families, religious organizations, and other civil associations.