Philosopher
By Richard E. Noble
If I were to say that Rousseau was as nutty as a fruit cake, this would not be a statement of personal prejudice. Rousseau finally went mad and most probably committed suicide. But just because a man is as nutty as a fruitcake, is that any reason to not read what he has to say?
Maybe not, but it is a hell of a good start, especially when there are so many books to read and so little time. And I also have this sneaking suspicion that if one continues to read nutty people, he may very well end up nutty himself. But the question is, was he always as nutty as a fruit cake, or just driven nuts by the circumstances of his life? That's a good question. And the answer seems to me to be that he was always as nutty as a fruit cake.
His first sexual experience came while being 'spanked'. That's right. He liked it ... getting spanked that is. And I mean really, really liked it. It seems that he had the additional problem of finding sexual satisfaction with women he truly admired. He had a lot more fun with women he had no respect and admiration for at all. I suppose that is not so uncommon. But the fact that he spent the majority of his life with a woman who he claimed to have no attraction for whatsoever; who was not only illiterate but rude, crude, lewd, and confirmed as an ugly witch (and that witch can be spelled with a 'b' if you like) by everybody who ever knew her, does seem a little unnerving.
I find it equally difficult to take moral and ethical advice from a man who unashamedly admits to impregnating this woman on at least five different occasions, and then dumping the babies off at the nearest fondling home. His basic defense of this action was that he didn't have the mental, emotional, or economic capacity to care for these children properly. And since his incapacity was precipitated by an immoral society, these children were more his neighbors responsibility than his own.
Okay, now ... do you want to read 'the Social Contract' in which this man devises the perfect moral and ethical society?
He was also a thief, a disloyal friend, willing to do anything for a frank, totally promiscuous, eventually paranoid, but never, never one to tell an untruth in his writing. He swears to this by crossing his heart and undoubtedly, wishing and praying to die.
And we conclude our evaluation of Rousseau with the fact that he was never able to overcome his inclination to piss in his pants. He claimed that it was a physical condition, but an autopsy after his death found nothing askew, or seemingly abnormal.
The fact that this man was not a defender of the rational and logical goes without saying. He managed to get everybody mad at him, was chased out of his country, and only allowed back if he agreed to keep his mouth shut and never write another word. Having no place else to go, nor any country to accept him, and no friends left anywhere ... he agreed.
