Rousseau's Philosophy: Understanding His Key Dualities

**Editorial: Rousseau, Thinker of Dualities**

Rousseau's dualities reflected the classic *matter-spirit*, *reason-senses*, *understanding-sensitivity*, virtually all philosophical, except materialism.

• This *body-soul* duality is at the base of another: *reason-feelings*. The reason as understood by Rousseau no longer has the Cartesian cold lead to a method for attaining truth. Now, that same reason converted into practice, is a man as a moral compass to be followed by a boost of awareness that is feeling. (...)
• Viewing intelligence and the senses as *active* and *passive* is another duality that serves Rousseau to accuse the first of certain errors when judging what the senses have glimpsed. Unlike Plato and Descartes, the senses are not wrong - it is false that I ever feel what I feel, "and yet I usually am wrong when actively attaching a particular case that is really not what caused it." Hence, Rousseau concluded that passive awareness is not wrong and it does change the intelligence reasons and many times the man away from what she had dictated. (...)
• So we see another duality, *theoretical reason-practical reason*. The first, for Rousseau, has limits that have not been seen in the picture and the second one is the morality that serves and has not taken into account as shown. Is known practical turn. (...)
• Another duality that we can analyze is what R. considered natural feelings: *love of self* and the *natural piety* that would lead to further corruption of selfishness (self) and the inequality caused by violence. (...)
• Another duality deducted from the above would be: *natural-artificial*. Everything goes well at the hands of God (natural) corrupts everything in the hands of men (artificial). (...)
• The duality of *natural religion-religion* is revealed from the previous *natural-artificial* (...)
• Another duality Rousseau also derived from the above is *natural liberty-civil liberty*. The first has been lost and does not matter anymore, but the second we have not reached and it would be necessary. This is only possible through social agreement to be reached in a civilized Social Contract. Everyone must give up their power of self-government for all. That civil liberty is undoubtedly superior to the pure natural wild freedom.