Abstract
This chapter examines the tension between Rousseau's two approaches to gratitude. The first, developed in political works from Discours sur l'inégalité to the Contrat social, is that the personal obligation of gratitude to benefactors should be replaced by the impersonal obligations of equal citizens under the law. As in Hobbes, individuals would then be free from dependence on other people's arbitrary will. The second approach, illustrated in La Nouvelle Héloïse and the last of the Rêveries, defines gratitude as a free response to a gift and as a sign of refined sensibility. It is a disposition that should be cultivated because it allows those who experience it to become more fully human and to motivate the performance of one's duties. Asking whether citizens should be grateful to the Legislator who facilitates the social contract, and whether people owe gratitude to God for letting them be themselves (as in the Savoyard vicar's ‘Profession of Faith’ in Emile) offers an interpretive key to the complexities of Rousseau's thought.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
