Solitude and the feeling of existence in J.-J.'s Reveries. Rousseau

Abstract

Rousseau's thought presents a difficulty in its interpretation: the problem of the association between life and work of the philosopher. After Starobinski's studies, the articulation between the philosopher's theories and life experiences will be considered more seriously. Despite the centrality of the issue of the interference of social and economic transformations in inter-individual relations, this interpretation highlights the changes psycho-emotional, produced by the growing disparity between private life and the way in which the individual projects himself in social life. In this context, the problem of the unity of the human being and its authenticity becomes the object of a thorough analysis that involves a new understanding of the Genevan philosopher's thought, based on his autobiographical texts. The text presented here is dedicated to discussing passages from Les Rêveries du promeneur solitaire, autobiographical text, written at the end of the philosopher's life, which enunciate the possibility of solving the problem of rupture of the Ego, present in the criticism of civilization, inserted in theoretical texts.