Ethics and aesthetics of the soul in the philosophy of Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Abstract

The purpose of this text is to reflect upon the idea of return to interiority (rentrer à soi), which we frequently encounter in the writings of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and to argue that this idea enables an ethical path that culminates in an aesthetics of the soul. Considering the idea of the aesthetics of the soul as a form of realization of man's inner nature—or, rather, a way through which the soul can achieve its expansion and realize itself fully—we can understand that, far from being restricted to a superficial aesthetics, the beautiful would be the manifestation of the soul's inner harmony. This realization seems to occur not only in the various characters of the Rousseauian body of work but also, as can be gathered from his autobiographical writings, in the philosopher's own life.