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    Carmelics

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    LoyalLoyalJusticeJustice
    Made withinDC&Austin
    Statements
    321,452
    Perspectives
    108,905
    Topics
    42
    Home/Original/inverse
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    Inverse View

    It is not the case that Rousseau's two accounts are complementary stages in a single developmental theory, not rival explanations of the same phenomenon.

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    Reasons For

    1 perspective
    Reason for
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    • 1.Rousseau's descriptions of natural man and civil man contain incompatible psychological claims about desire, reason, and motivation within humans.
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    • 2.The accounts make rival causal claims about inequality's origins—natural differences versus social institutions—that cannot both be primary drivers.
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    • 3.Textual evidence shows Rousseau treating both accounts as complete explanations rather than explicitly presenting one as dependent on the other.
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    Reasons Against

    1 perspective
    Reason against
    ?
    • 1.Rousseau explicitly structures his work chronologically, moving from natural origins to civil society, suggesting intentional developmental progression.
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    • 2.The accounts address different explanatory targets: one explains human nature's foundation, the other explains society's emergence and legitimacy.
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    • 3.Reading them as stages avoids attributing direct contradiction to Rousseau and preserves coherence across his major texts.
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