Science, morality, and the public good: Reflections on knowledge serving society in Rousseau and Mercier

Abstract

Rousseau became famous for his strong critiques of the evils arising from social relations, including those allegedly caused by the progress of sciences and arts throughout the centuries, which, as the philosopher argued in his First Discourse, were not accompanied by advancements in the fields of morality and politics. Thus, the forms of civility of modern peoples seemed to him tainted by corruption in various ways, something that the sciences and arts not only helped to aggravate but also to conceal with "garlands of flowers" over the chains of servitude, as in the Discourse's famous image. However, while this negative diagnosis appears to prevail in the Genevan's work, it is equally challenged by the author with an intriguing perspective which, near the text's conclusion, highlights academies as a way to combat the harms generated by the sciences and arts, drawing the remedy from the very source of the evil to be fought. If these institutions were supported by rulers and led by scholars genuinely imbued with the desire to contribute to the happiness of the people, the sciences and arts diffused by them would unite with virtue and become sources of "agreeable lights" and "salutary instruction" for humankind, according to the thinker. Even if they were palliative measures in the broader context of a historical scenario far removed from the political and moral values nurtured by Rousseau, the emphasis placed on these initiatives encourages us to discuss the complexity of the philosopher's ideas regarding the social role of science and art, moving beyond mere condemnation and incorporating new elements found in his other texts. In this regard, it also allows us to build bridges with the study of the work of another author whose writing was, in many aspects, inspired by Rousseau: the Frenchman Louis-Sébastien Mercier. In his futuristic fiction The Year 2440, he outlined the scenario of a society perfected by the realization of Enlightenment ideals, which would have led to a republican regime in France, as well as considerable improvements in the population's living conditions, especially through a more rational organization of resources and available spaces. In the utopia dreamed up by Mercier, scientific knowledge advanced significantly and was allied with the moral formation of citizens, as in the case of children whose education used Diderot and d’Alembert's Encyclopédie as an elementary primer, or teenagers who were taught to contextualize the human place in the order of the universe by contemplating, with the telescope and the microscope, the "two infinities" of nature. Therefore, by analyzing these and other uses of science and technology in the service of society, as portrayed by Mercier, we can reflect alongside him and Rousseau on the importance of this knowledge and these instruments for the public good, especially in our era marked by practices of scientific denialism and disinformation.

Rousseau became famous for his strong critiques of the evils arising from social relations, including those allegedly caused by the progress of sciences and arts throughout the centuries, which, as the philosopher argued in his First Discourse, were not accompanied by advancements in the fields of morality and politics. Thus, the forms of civility of modern peoples seemed to him tainted by corruption in various ways, something that the sciences and arts not only helped to aggravate but also to conceal with "garlands of flowers" over the chains of servitude, as in the Discourse's famous image. However, while this negative diagnosis appears to prevail in the Genevan's work, it is equally challenged by the author with an intriguing perspective which, near the text's conclusion, highlights academies as a way to combat the harms generated by the sciences and arts, drawing the remedy from the very source of the evil to be fought. If these institutions were supported by rulers and led by scholars genuinely imbued with the desire to contribute to the happiness of the people, the sciences and arts diffused by them would unite with virtue and become sources of "agreeable lights" and "salutary instruction" for humankind, according to the thinker. Even if they were palliative measures in the broader context of a historical scenario far removed from the political and moral values nurtured by Rousseau, the emphasis placed on these initiatives encourages us to discuss the complexity of the philosopher's ideas regarding the social role of science and art, moving beyond mere condemnation and incorporating new elements found in his other texts. In this regard, it also allows us to build bridges with the study of the work of another author whose writing was, in many aspects, inspired by Rousseau: the Frenchman Louis-Sébastien Mercier. In his futuristic fiction The Year 2440, he outlined the scenario of a society perfected by the realization of Enlightenment ideals, which would have led to a republican regime in France, as well as considerable improvements in the population's living conditions, especially through a more rational organization of resources and available spaces. In the utopia dreamed up by Mercier, scientific knowledge advanced significantly and was allied with the moral formation of citizens, as in the case of children whose education used Diderot and d’Alembert's Encyclopédie as an elementary primer, or teenagers who were taught to contextualize the human place in the order of the universe by contemplating, with the telescope and the microscope, the "two infinities" of nature. Therefore, by analyzing these and other uses of science and technology in the service of society, as portrayed by Mercier, we can reflect alongside him and Rousseau on the importance of this knowledge and these instruments for the public good, especially in our era marked by practices of scientific denialism and disinformation.