Rousseau and the Paradox of Alienation

In the writings of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Sally Howard Campbell finds the bridge between the now-dominant psycho-social conception of alienation and the legal-political conception that prevailed prior to Rousseau. She discusses Rousseaus transformation of the concept of alienation and how it laid much of the groundwork for Marxs later, more explicit discussions of mans alienation. Using Discourse on the Origin and Foundations of Inequality, Campbell shows how Rousseau depicts the development of mans awareness of himself as a conscious and moral being, illustrating mans journey from a natural state of self-sufficiency to one of dependence and alienation. Paradoxically, she describes Rousseaus belief that a state of wholeness can only be achieved through a mans total alienation of himself to the community, free from the alienating effects of civil society. She concludes that, like Marx, Rousseau believed that alienation can only be transcended through the merging of the individual and the community.