Les Fondements de la Paix et les Origines de la Guerre: Charles Irénée Castel de Saint-Pierre et Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Abstract

The texts composed by Jean-Jacques Rousseau on the abbe de Saint-Pierre were written between 1754 and 1758. On the suggestion of Mably, Ms. Dupuis asked Rousseau to write a short version of Saint-Pierre's main writings, especially the Projet pour rendre la paix perpetuelle. Rousseau's analysis of Saint-Pierre's texts brought him to develop a pessimist hypothesis concerning man's faith. In opposition to the abbe de Saint-Pierre, Rousseau explains that the organization of a pacifist Europe is impossible, because, according to his own point of view, it is the socialization of men that is responsible for violence. Hence, society in itself does not contain any remedy to war. The ways in which societies are built oblige their citizens to live not only with respect, amiability and obedience within their State, but also to live with the readiness to (at least virtually) destroy and ravage the possessions and citizens of other States. Perpetual peace seems, for Rousseau, a great project, but since he considers war to be caused by the ways in which men are organized within societies, he finds this idea unrealizable and, finally, the proof of a lack of comprehension of political mechanisms.