The aesthetic dimensions of esteem in Rousseau

Amour-propre , general will, and general taste

Datos Bibliográficos

ID21597828
AutoresJessica Holley (0000-0001-7465-921X, University of Cambridge), Jared Holley (University of Cambridge, autor de correspondencia)
Año2024
Volumen32
Número4
Páginas877-894
Fecha de publicación2024-07-03
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaBritish Journal for the History of Philosophy (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0960-8788 • E-ISSN: 1469-3526
EditorialInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/09608788.2022.2028601
OpenAlexW4213442129
IdiomaEN
Referencias citadas15

This article reframes the approach to Rousseau in political philosophy and histories of political thought by emphasizing some neglected aesthetic dimensions of amour-propre and the general will. I argue that Rousseau's account of the origins of amour-propre in aesthetic judgment alerts us to his view that the potentially dangerous effects of amour-propre can be mitigated if its 'extension' to others is grounded in an aesthetic appreciation of beauty. This pushes back against the predominant 'revisionist' interpretation of amour-propre in terms of Hegelian 'recognition' or Rawlsian 'social bases of self-respect'. It also clears the ground for my recovery of Rousseau's neglected analogy between the general will and what he called the general taste. I argue that reconstructing the general taste and reconsidering the general will in its light yields a significant argument by analogy: like the general taste, the general will is democratically determined by majority vote, not constrained by transcendent standards

Aesthetics · Analogy · Beauty · Epistemology · Hegelianism · Political science · Politics · Taste · European Political History Analysis · Law · Philosophy · Political Theory and Influence · Psychology · Rousseau and Enlightenment Thought