"Man was born free, and he is everywhere in chains" Rousseau wrote in 1762. He thought that civilisation fills "man" with unnatural wants and seduces him away from his true nature and original freedom. Rousseau is credited with the idea of the "Noble Savage" who is uncorrupted by artifice and society. In "Émile" (1762) he describes the education of a free being who is encouraged to develop through self expression the natural nobility and liberty of the spirit. In the "Social Contract"(1762) he attempts to describe a society in which this natural nobility could flourish. The society would be based on a contract where each individual would give all of his rights to the community, but all collective decisions would be based on a direct democracy (a democracy where each member has a chance to vote on every issue). As all are involved in decision making this contract is seen as legitimate. The state is seen to represent the common good or the general will. The general will is not to be confused with the "will of all": The "will of all" is what individuals think they may want and includes selfish motives. The "general will" however is what people would want if they were rational and is seen as necessarily good. If an individual does not want to obey the general will then he must be "forced to be free". Imagine a group of people attempting to cross a bridge that is, unknown to them, weak and dangerous. The gatekeeper refuses to let the group pass and they feel that their freedom is being curtailed as they do not have a full understanding of the situation. The gatekeeper is forcing them to be free; if they were not stopped then they may have perished on the weak bridge. Rousseau likens this situation to the person who does not understand why they should obey the general will. To obey what is best for all is to maximise the freedom for each." aside from how interesting this passage is, i was wondering if anyone knew specifically the requirments for something to be called romanticism.
Perhaps they can tell you in the romanticists thread - otherwise they talk a lot about rousseau in the anarchist threads - this is existentialism you wont get any sense out of anyone here we are all completely mad.
romanticism concentraits on the subjective feeling. It is all about the beauty that makes life worth living and how pain can become allmost like tragic art.though I'm not an expert consult wkipedia! is essnce Romanticism is all about feeling and asthedic.
i love romanticism ~ it's all about frivolity and excess and imagination, totally ridiculous art like rococo art writings during that period were very spiritual and most of the art during that period was about the sublime Friedrich is an amazing painting from that period check it all out at your local library
