Goethe wrote when commenting on Voltaire and Rousseau: "Voltaire ended an era, but Rousseau opened an era." Napoleon even said, "Without Rousseau, there would be no French Revolution."
It seems that everyone who has made great achievements in history is destined to experience an extraordinary life. However, compared with Voltaire and Diderot, Rousseau's greatness is too bumpy.
17 12. Rousseau was born in a watchmaker's family in Geneva, Switzerland. His mother died shortly after he was born, leaving him a cupboard full of books. Rousseau spent his childhood reading the works of ancient Greece and Rome, and the thoughts of sages and stories of historical figures left a profound influence on him.
Due to family reasons, Rousseau did not receive systematic academic education. When he was young, he moved to Venice, Paris and other places. At one time, he had to make a living as a domestic servant and went through hardships. 1750, Rousseau became famous in the literary world with his article "On Science and Art" and began to get praise and pursuit. However, his shyness and sincerity, as well as his unwillingness to please others, kept him out of the upper class, and eventually he was excluded and chose to live in seclusion in the countryside.
1762, due to the publication of Emile, the French court issued an arrest warrant against Rousseau and banned his book. Eight years later, Rousseau fled.
From 65438 to 0778, Rousseau moved to Ehrmen Norvell Manor near Paris, where he died in July. When he was buried on Baiyang Island in Lake Emmenonville, only two or three friends and a group of farmers living nearby buried him. The situation was very bleak.
A year later, the French Revolution that shocked the world broke out, the autocratic feudal dynasty was overthrown and the French Republic was founded. The French National Assembly passed a resolution to reset the coffin and bury Rousseau's body in the capital Paris.
1794 65438+ 10/01,Paris is deserted. People poured into the streets, followed all the politicians and representatives from all walks of life, escorted Rousseau's coffin to the Pantheon and paid tribute to his coffin in silence.
The watchmaker's son was in trouble before his death, but he was extremely sad after his death. His life was full of ups and downs, brilliant passion, sad stories and admirable legends.
To understand Rousseau, reading his works is naturally the most direct way. However, Rousseau lived more than 300 years ago, and the gap between language and culture will inevitably bring us many difficulties in reading. Therefore, it is more convenient to read relevant books written by famous scholars.
I recently read a short story about Rousseau, Romantic Soul: Jean-Jean-jean-jacques rousseau, which is worth recommending.
This book was written by Professor Zhao Lin, a famous national teacher. Different from the common biography, it does not tell Rousseau's life story in chronological order, and there are not many philosophical terms that are difficult to understand. The book introduces Rousseau's bumpy life with a beautiful and smooth style, and also explains Rousseau's great thoughts for us in a simple way.
Professor Zhao Lin is an outstanding scholar of Wuhan University, a second-class professor of the School of Philosophy, and a national famous teacher who enjoys special government allowance from the State Council. His main research interests are western philosophy, western culture and the history of Christian thought. He has published many academic works such as Hegel's Religious Philosophy, Western Religious Culture and Light of Ancient Greek Civilization. He has also offered courses such as History of Western Philosophy and Introduction to Western Culture in Wuhan University for a long time, which are well received by students.
In addition to teaching and academic research, Professor Zhao Lin is also willing to popularize western cultural knowledge to the public, and even the obscure ancient Greek culture can be easily understood in his works.
In The Romantic Soul, Professor Zhao Lin interprets the development of Rousseau's mental journey from the perspective of "sympathy and understanding", reproduces Rousseau's passionate and bumpy life with life experience, and reproduces Rousseau's radical thoughts with a romantic feeling. He divided Rousseau's life and thoughts into three parts to tell:
The first part describes Rousseau's bumpy life and shows us a sensitive and sincere romantic soul by expounding his mental journey.
The second part systematically introduces Rousseau's political thoughts, focusing on his book On Social Contract, dialectical view of history, sovereignty and general will, freedom and equality, and his populist thoughts, and analyzes the far-reaching influence of Rousseau's political thoughts on later generations.
The third part introduces Rousseau's natural philosophy, his pedagogy and aesthetics, and his important influence on the romantic trend of thought in the19th century.
Throughout Rousseau's life, no matter his philosophical thoughts or political thoughts, a prominent feature is "advocating nature". Rousseau had an idyllic life when he was a teenager, and it was this idyllic life that cultivated Rousseau's feelings for nature and his cherish for freedom. From then on, this fascination with natural scenery accompanied Rousseau's life until the last moment of his life.
Rousseau practiced his aesthetic thoughts with his own practical actions, refused to live in luxury, chose to live alone in the countryside, and fought against the whole French upper class and intellectual elite by himself. Anyone will admire such courage and rebellion.
It is said that Professor Zhao Lin is a big fan of Rousseau. He once mentioned that he was attracted by Rousseau's romantic feelings when he was a teenager, and he read Rousseau's Confessions all night in college. He said he admired Hegel, but he loved Rousseau. In the process of reading, I can feel Professor Zhao Lin's love and admiration for Rousseau several times, especially when it comes to the climax, his words are intense and romantic, hearty and memorable.