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Boston College

The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences

Department of Political Science

THE AMBIGUITIES OF ROUSSEAU'S CONCEPTION OF HAPPINESS a dissertation by

Alexandre Provencher-Gravel

submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of

Doctor of Philosophy

September 2008

© copyright by ALEXANDRE PROVENCHER-GRAVEL

2008

Dissertation abstract

The Ambiguities of Rousseau's Conception of Happiness by Alexandre Provencher-Gravel

Supervised by Christopher Kelly

This dissertation is a discussion of the many ambiguities surrounding Rousseau's conception of happiness. In the first chapter, I expose Rousseau's various conceptions of happiness in Émile. His main conception is offered at the beginning of Book II. Rousseau defines happiness as the equilibrium between desires and faculties. I show how this definition fits with his conception of human nature as it is developed in the Second Discours. Then I turn to a brief exposition of the alternative ideas of happiness that are exposed in the remaining of

Émile. I also discuss various recent

interpretations of Rousseau's understanding of happiness. I turn to Rousseau's autobiographical writings for the remaining chapters. The second chapter discusses Rousseau's self-understanding of what made him miserable during his life. I focus on two episodes of his life: his break with the Parisian life and his crisis during the publication of Émile. I show how Rousseau often blames the circumstances or others for his unhappiness rather than his opinions or his heart. The last two chapters attempt to define what the happiness was that Rousseau experienced. The third chapter tries to understand what sort of solitude makes Rousseau happy, and if indeed he is happy in this situation. I explore why society is unsatisfying for him and whether his desire to be alone is coherent. The final chapter discusses the nature of Rousseau's blissful rêveries. I show how melancholia appears to be at the center of his ecstasies in the second letter to Malesherbes. In the Fifth Walk of the Rêveries, however, Rousseau seems to settle for a quasi-lethargic experience. The minimal sentiment of his own existence he defines as happiness is compared to other blissful experiences described in the book. Finally, I discuss whether Rousseau needed to know the truth or to philosophize in order to be happy. In particular, I discuss his claim in the Third Walk to be in need of the doctrine of the Profession de foi du Vicaire savoyard to be happy. Rousseau's sincerity is ambiguous. Its analysis unveils a few problems about his claims to be selfless and to have dedicated his life to the truth.

Le sort de ce mortel heureux etmalheureux à la

fois, eut été ce me semble un étrangeproblême.

Rousseau,

Émile

Le tems qu'on employe à savoir ce que d'autres ont pensé étant perdu pour apprendre à penser soi- même, on a plus de lumières acquises et moins de vigueur d'esprit.

Rousseau,

Émile

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments iv

Abbreviations of text cited v

Introduction 1

Chapter One : Happiness as Equilibrium 16

1 - The Theory of Equilibrium

1.1 - A Summary of the Theory

1.2 - Equilibrium and System

2 - Is Equilibrium a Sufficient Condition of Happiness?

2.1 - Equilibrium as a Sufficient Condition of Happiness

2.2 - Equilibrium as an Unsufficient Condition of Happiness

3 - Is Equilibrium the Necessary Condition of Happiness?

3.1 - Equilibrium or Effervescence?

3.2 - Two Alternatives to Equilibrium

3.2.1 - Happiness as Excess of Force

3.2.2 - Happiness as Excess of Desire

4 - Conclusion

Chapter Two : Unhappiness and Opinion 82

1 - Two Unhappy Episodes of Rousseau's Life

1.1 - Becoming Independent of Opinion: Rousseau's Reform in the Confessions

1.1.1 - One of the Few Privileged Souls?

1.1.2 - The Motivations of the Reform

1.1.3 - Other Accounts of Rousseau's Reform

1.1.4 - Rousseau's Responsibility in Failing to Become Independent

1.1.5 - Alternative Explanations

1.1.6 - Conclusion: Does Rousseau Think He Is Sensitive to Opinion?

2 - The 1761 Crisis

2.1 - The 1761 Crisis in the Letter to Moultou

2.2 - The 1761 Crisis in the Confessions

2.3 - The 1761 Crisis in the Four Letters to Malesherbes

2.3.1 - Unruly Imagination

2.3.2 - Love of Glory

3 - Conclusion: What Is the Source of Rousseau's Misery?

ii

Chapter Three : Happiness and Solitude 140

1 - Solitude in the Letters to Malesherbes

1.1 - Rousseau's Natural Love of Solitude

1.2 - Rousseau's Vindication of Solitude

1.2.1 - The Only and Most Independent State?

1.2.2 - The Nature of Rousseau's Laziness

1.2.3 - Does the Love of Chimerical Beings Make Rousseau Independent and

Happy?

1.3 - Conclusion: Critical Reflections on the Goodness of Solitude in Rousseau's System and

in his Life

2 - Solitude in the Rêveries du Promeneur Solitaire

2.1 - What Does Rousseau Mean by "

Me voici donc seul sur la terre"?

2.2 - What Are We to Make of Rousseau's Belief in a Plot?

2.3 - Bending to Necessity

2.3.1 - The Return of the Theory of Equilibrium

2.3.1.1 - Discussion: Why Would Rousseau Resist to a Return to the Theory

of Equilibrium?

2.3.2 - Bending to Necessity in the First Walk

2.3.3 - Bending to Necessity in the Second Walk

2.3.4 - Bending to Necessity in the Eighth Walk

2.3.4.1 - Materialism and the Disappearance of Intention

2.3.4.2 - Bending to the Senses

2.3.4.3 - Discussion: What Is the Status of Rousseau's Claim to Have

Learned How to Bend to Necessity?

2.3.5 - Conclusion

2.4 - Doing Good to Others

2.4.1 - Why Does Doing Good Make Rousseau Happy?

2.4.2 - Why is Rousseau Unable to Do Good to Others (and therefore to Be Happy)?

2.4.2.1 - The Natural Obstacle

2.4.2.2 - The Vindication of the Natural Obstacle

2.4.2.3 - The Accidental Obstacle

2.4.3 - Is Rousseau's Selfishness Legitimate?

2.4.4 - Conclusion: Can a Spontaneous Heart Bend to Necessity?

Chapter Four : Happiness and Rêveries 283

1 - Nostalgia, Ecstasy and Melancholia: The Third Letter to Malesherbes

1.1 - Independence and Goodwill

1.2 - The Rêveries

1.2.1 - The Definite

Rêverie or Nostalgia

1.2.2 - The Indefinite Rêverie or Confusion

1.2.3 - Melancholia as the Core of Rousseau's Happiness

1.2.4 - The Nostalgia of Happiness

2 - The Bare Sentiment of One's Own Existence: The Fifth Walk

2.1 - A Simple and Permanent State

iii

2.2 - What Is Happiness for Rousseau?

2.3 - Conclusion: Equilibrium or Disequilibrium?

3 - Happiness and Truth

3.1 - Truth, Sincerity and Utility

3.1.1 - The Philosophers' Amour-propre

3.1.2 - Rousseau's Sincerity

3.2 - Is Rousseau's Philosophy for Others?

3.3 - Or Is it for Himself...?

3.3.1 - The Absence of a Direct Defense of the Noble Lie in the Fourth Walk

3.3.2 - Rousseau's Capacity for Disinterestedness

3.3.3 - Love of Oneself and Love of the Truth

3.3.4 - Happiness and Illusions

3.4 - Conclusion

Conclusion 400

Bibliography 415

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Susan Shell and Laurence Cooper for having accepted to read this dissertation and for their useful comments. A special thanks to Christopher

Kelly, who supervised this dissertation, a

nd with whom I have had many stimulating discussions about Rousseau. His mastery of Rousseau's corpus, as well as his intellectual rigor, will remain a model for me. Ma dette envers Rosemarie est inestimable. Je la remercie pour sa patience, son dévouement et son amour. Je remercie finalement mes parents, Roger et Diane, pour leur soutien durant l'écriture de cette thèse, mais aussi pour tout le temps durant lequel je fus un étudiant.

Cette thèse leur est dédiée.

Abbreviations of texts cited

E = Émile

C = Les Confessions

D = Rousseau juge de Jean-Jacques (Dialogues)

R = Les Rêveries du Promeneur Solitaire

Beaumont = Lettre à Christophe de Beaumont

PD = Discours sur les sciences et les arts (Premier Discours) SD = Discours sur l'origine et les fondements de l'inégalité parmi les hommes (Second

Discours)

LAD = Lettre à d'Alembert sur les spectacles

LAM = Quatre lettres à M. le Président de Malesherbes

LM = Lettres morales

J = Julie ou la Nouvelle-Héloïse

Introduction

Writing a dissertation on Jean-Jacques Rousseau's conception of happiness can only be a mistake. True happiness cannot be described: "Le vrai bonheur ne se décrit pas, il se sent" (C, OC I, p. 236). It cannot be described because it is a sentiment that has no object but itself: "Si [le bonheur] consistoit en faits, en actions, en paroles, je pourrois le décrire et le rendre, en quelque façon: mais comment dire ce qui n'étoit ni dit, ni fait ni pensé même, mais goûté, mais senti, sans que je puisse énoncer d'autre objet de mon bonheur que ce sentiment même" (C, OC I, p. 225). Happiness is the sentiment of happiness. What more is there to say? Yet in the same passage of the Confessions from which the quotations above are drawn, Rousseau goes on at length to depict the happiness he experienced during his time at the Charmettes. Obviously, Rousseau did not think he could not say anything about happiness. In fact, Rousseau talked of happiness at greater length than perhaps any other philosopher. His first discourse examined whether the arts and sciences can contribute to man's happiness. His second discourse opens with a letter in which Rousseau paints a happy society, and argues in the rest of the work in favor of the happiness found in the state of nature and against the misery of civilized life. His Émile is the attempt to make a man happy at all stages of his life. His Julie marks the heart of its readers with its extraordinary depiction of the felicity of love. As Bernard Gagnebin remarks: "On peut 2 dire que l'oeuvre de Rousseau n'est, sous un certain angle, qu'une longue méditation sur le bonheur." 1 While there exist works dedicated to Rousseau's conception of religion, of liberty, of goodness, of the state of nature, of women, of knowledge, there exists no work dedicated to his understanding of happiness. The few articles that focus on the issue are unanimous in noting the difficulty in understanding Rousseau's final position. They all depict differently Rousseau's conception of happiness. Bernard Gagnebin's article piles up the conditions of happiness without organizing them in a hierarchy or solving the apparent contradictions between a few of them. 2

Stephen G. Salkever says that Rousseau

has "a very complex understanding of the nature of happiness" but that he at least clearly points out "the central importance of moderation or a moderate life for [...] the sentiment of happiness." 3 Ronald Grimsley believes that Rousseau thought that the highest form of happiness was achieved through an act of will and through morality, in the exercise of freedom and in the participation in the spiritual order governing the universe as a whole. However, his personal experience compelled him to look anew at his understanding of happiness. His failure to be happy here below leads him to conclude that it is impossible to present "a fixed reflective account of perfect happiness." 4

Robert Dérathé warns his

reader about the difficulty in understanding Rousseau's conception of happiness: "Il y a

1. Bernard Gagnebin, "Les conditions du bonheur chez Jean-Jacques Rousseau" in Revue d'histoire et de

philosophie religieuses, Vol. 55 (1975), p. 71.

2. Bernard Gagnebin, "Les conditions du bonheur chez Jean-Jacques Rousseau," p. 82.

3. Stephen G. Salkever, "Rousseau and the Concept of Happiness" in Polity, Vol. 11, No. 1 (Autumn

1978), p. 40. Victor Gourevitch shares the same opinion: "The Religious Thought" in The Cambridge

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