Rousseau Aesthetic Thought

Being the son of the Enlightenment, Rousseau's "Returning to Nature" not only complements and expands it, but also is contrary to its spirit on Intellectualism. In the trends of Intellectualism, Rousseau doesn't pay attention to how to look for the basis of knowledge by the mathematical thinking mode, but how to comprehend and recognize oneself availably. Replacing civilization by nature and arrogating reason by emotion, Rousseau moves the center of the Enlightenment through the principle critique to civil society and moral order. The whole of his reasoning system is for the sake of "the nature makes person kind, the society makes the person improbity; the nature makes person free, the society makes person enslave; the nature makes person happy, the society makes person painful". He has never given up, faltered and left this basic principle of "Returning to Nature". It is the core of Rousseau's thinking, and the conclusion from reflecting the relationship between the fact world and worth world which is totally different from the standpoints of the 18th centuries. Such idea also results in a new esthetics current which surmounts the former esthetic idea. This text tries to take "Returning to Nature" as the center, read Rousseau and its works at the aesthetic angle overall and thoroughly, so that discover intentionally and sort systematically its' position and influence on the Aesthetics History. The full text consists of seven parts, the main contents as follows:The introduction contains three problems: the author offers a general survey of studies on Rousseau's thinking, discusses the possibility and necessity of this topic selection, and explains the thoughts and methods of this text. It has for more than 100 years since Rousseau's thoughts been introduced into China. The Academics explore it mostly at the angle of the politics, sociology and morality, but neglect from the angle of aesthetics to carry on the concentrative and thorough study. Therefore, all kinds works on Rousseau's thoughts and the Enlightenment, haven't grasped and investigated Rousseau and Rousseau's works wholly with the systematical aesthetic concept, although have the explanations on his thoughts' aesthetic characters and the relationship between him and Romanticism. So, until now, there is no monograph on Rousseau's aesthetic thinking. In a kind of romantic mood, Rousseau say his philosophy esthetics thought by literary method exactly, and push the European social revolution and the cultural movement in the 19th centuries through "complete personalized motive, coming from the thought, emotion and passion"(Ernst Cassirer). That Bertrand Russell evaluating Rousseau for "the Father of the Romanticism" and Will Durant taking him as the rebellious "Basis" of the Romanticism, not only affirms this topic selection, but also provides the possibility of enriching and transcending previous scholars' thought on the academic theory level for me. Based on the previous scholars' achievement, this paper circling "Returning to Nature", explores and summaries its resources and contents, further analyses Rousseau's position and influence on the Western Aesthetics History.The first chapter is namely "Rousseau's Biography and Thoughts Review". In this part, the paper simply describes Rousseau's biography and works firstly to discover how to contact with nature, and refines to the theoretical structure and historical orientation-"Returning to Nature". The formation of this thought is not the accidental phenomenon of that time, but based on the formers' theoretical achievements and cultural resources. In other words, putting forward "Returning to Nature" not only accords the era language situation, but also depends on the alliance with empiricism philosophy, European theology and the modern natural right theories. Therefore, this paper discusses its' cultural resources at the angle of philosophical, theological and political background. Furthermore, this also contributes to understanding the origin of Rousseau's aesthetic thoughts and offering solid foundation to our study. "Returning to Nature" is the core of Rousseau's thoughts, also the most important part in his esthetics thought. Being the public intellectual in his age, Rousseau has a kind of Aesthetic Cultural Personality implying humanism. He introspects and remoulds the human nature, most body the aesthetic content of "Returning to Nature". That nature, emotion, freedom etc. idea and category, and their correlation, is all the esthetic element and inherent logic.The second chapter is namely "The Concept of 'Nature' in Rousseau's Aesthetic Thinking". In this part, the paper differentiates and analyses the concept of "Nature" from three links of cultural idol, beauty of Nature and naturalistic ecologic intellectual. This "Nature" is a phrase in narrow sense, which couldn't equate with this in "Returning to Nature". Being an important element in Rousseau's aesthetic thinking, it is not machine world different from the person any more, but the character of aesthetic object or generalization of art taste, vogue, and accumulation of particular"Culture-Mental" feeling and spirit direction. So, it becomes the noun phrase of"simplicity", "true", "ecosystem" etc. In this sense, "Nature" is opposed to "Civilization", which points to one kind of cultural character or existence to express the character of Civilian Culture that Rousseau pursue. Basing on this, Rousseau have critiqued the crime of civil society to announce the cultural crisis praised by the Enlightenment, so that his criticism surmounts coeval in depth and width. On the other hand, Rousseau's breakthrough in the culture thoughts has caused his reform in aesthetic concept. Being the moral idol of Civilian Culture, "Nature" offers a new aesthetic value and dimension. So, Rousseau's aesthetic sense takes Nature as basic principle. He attributes beauty to Nature and believes the beauty in nature higher than in art, which is Rousseau's solution to alienation at the aesthetic angle in fact. Correspondingly, the original, simplicity, even lofty natural lives become the aesthetic object finally to occupy a place in the literature activity. At the same time, the equal thought what the relationship between human and nature shows, also expresses Rousseau's holistic naturalistic ecologic intellectual. Therefore, in our point, although he doesn't put forward the theories on ecology clearly, Rousseau takes ecosystem predicament that the mankind faces as cultural crisis, thus leading the ecosystem problem from scientific technological realm to the poetic and aesthetic level.The third chapter is namely "The Inclination of 'Freedom' in Rousseau's Aesthetic Thinking". In this part, the paper analyses the concept of "Freedom", to show Rousseau's pursuit to the aesthetic life and contribute to comprehend the German Classic Aesthetics and the Romantic Literature. Rousseau's view on freedom affirms that freedom is sacred and inviolable right. In this sense, "Freedom" is "Nature" as well. He thinks that non-freedom takes place freedom after human beings enter into inequality. So, we should get rid of the confirmed disease on people's idea firstly to change the present situation. Rousseau criticizes that the modern natural jurists pay no attention to the individual right, thinks that causality can't explain the free will in pure spirit realm, so we can only realize it in society through moral self-perfection. He makes full use of imagination to dissolve the antinomy between nature and society into the moral intrinsic rules, establish relevant discussion in society on his deliberation on moral question. This is the pursuit to human's "Integrity", which indicates the tallest state in life that "Returning to Nature" willarrive-Aesthetic State. That "Freedom" in social moral realm has the aestheticmeaning has already involved a kind of cultural principle that explains the meaning of life. The discussion on the relationship between moral freedom and aesthetic liberation leads to the aesthetic existence become one of the main melodies in the 19th centuries and afterward western esthetics history. Moreover, in the words system of the Rousseau, Freedom not only represents his understanding on the natural creation disposition, but also means his pursuit to individuality liberation, which changes into writer's self-expression consciousness. Rousseau's works contain heavy spirit of "Egoism", which have developed the new world of the innermost being literature and mental depiction.The forth chapter is namely "The Implication of 'Emotion' in Rousseau's Aesthetic Thinking". "Returning to Nature" request that recover human's original nature, which not only expresses to look forward to the Nature Culture and pursue free right, but also expresses to call forth the pure emotion. Nature, Freedom and Emotion are in accordance with each other, and constitute main mental sources of the Romanticism in the 19th centuries together. In this part, the paper discusses the content and the spirit substance of Emotion in the Rousseau esthetic thoughts from three aspects of the relationship between emotion and reason, emotional expression and emotional cultivation. In the 18th centuries of European society, the technological reason dominates people's life, so that people's judging everything according to reason and Rationalism annihilating the richness of humanity. Different from majority, Rousseau brings a soft and beautiful emotion evangel book for European society while Encyclopedist worships reason as their god. He criticizes the misapplication to reason with romantic carriage firstly, distinguishing knowledge reason and moral reason consciously, and emphasizing the importance of feeling, emotion to knowledge reason. Therefore, in analysis to the relationship between emotion and reason, Rousseau insist that emotion is in advance. This subversion to traditional reasonable thinking mode represents emotional expression having romantic features firstly. Rousseau thinks that art originates the human demand of expressing emotion, so the mimicry poetics tradition takes place basically. Subjective Aesthetics circling emotion deviates from "Three Unities" observed by classicism. This subversion represents Rousseau combining emotion and education as well. He promotes that education should adjust to the disposition, emotion cultivation should prevail on reason -development. Moreover, he takes aesthetic appreciation as main educational method, perfect personality as ultimate educational purpose. With "emotion" for center, this education permeates the artistic idea, also pierces through the aesthetic principle. So we believe, that Rousseau have changed the traditional theoretical form with the special emotional thinking.The fifth chapter is namely "The Artistic Theories Under Double Context of 'Returning to Nature'". "Returning to Nature" is the logic point of Rousseau's artistic theories, which standardize artistic questions with Nature, Freedom and Emotion. This forms three kinds of different perspective, namely moral perspective, social perspective and aesthetic perspective. In the critique of moral perspective, that art corrupts moral does harm to custom purification. In the critique of social perspective, that art has already become the tool to push the social inequality does harm to the realization of freedom. In the third critique, that art pursues the formal physics character excessively does harm to the approbation of itself and emotion. Rousseau emphasizes the social, political value of art much over the value of itself, because he takes it as standard that promots mankind's happiness, contributes to building up an equal society and cultivates natural humanity on standpoint of a public intellectual. After making generaliztion from Rousseau's critique horizon of art, the paper analyses Rousseau's criticizing "Catharsis". Clearing up the historic clues of his tragedy criticism view, we discover his feelings in tragedy theory inherited by Platonism, also announce the anti-classical inexhaustiveness while he rebels everything with romantic spirit. Then the paper deduces the theory angle from tragedy to else art realm, in order to analyse Rousseau's two value standpoints at treating artistic "having" and "should". Rousseau criticizes the function of "having" art, but don't cancel the existence of "should" art. He puts forward the principle of "the argument for art", and thinks that art should have the function of sublimating humanity and purifying custom in addition to pure aesthetic significance. However, Rousseau isn't going to solve artistic questions in the art realm, but keep hope on the change of the economic, political institutions. Because he believes if we have solved social questions to get to the idea society, all questions including artistic questions would be solved, this gets back the start point of "Returning to. Nature" again.The sixth chapter is namely "The Contribution and the Limitation of Rousseau's Aesthetic Thinking". That Rousseau's conceiving of building up new social order in the life with the principle of "Nature", and the various factors of social revolution having fermented in the history, all urges his aesthetics view important and fresh particularly. Rousseau's all efforts make mental preparations for the greatest revolution in aesthetics history: the pursuit for "Returning to Nature" opening the western Romanticism. Therefore, the paper thinks, that Rousseau's aesthetic thoughts is not only an important stage of French esthetics history, but also of the Western Aesthetics History. In regard to his position in aesthetics history, we have affirmed to two points. On the one hand, being a person in the transformation period from Classicalism to Romanticism, Rousseau plays an important role in the conversion process of western aesthetic type in 19th centuries by influencing Kant's esthetics. On the other hand, his emphasizing Nature, Freedom and Emotion form the critical spirit of looking down upon everything, which prompts him to criticize the Enlightenment Modernity and become the Aesthetic Modernity's France source in the name of "the more advanced modernity". Certainly, there have obvious problems in Rousseau's aesthetic thinking. His "one-sided deepness" expressed by the critique to the civilization alienation, "overall bias" caused by the insistence on aesthetic experience and "internal contradiction" represented by the relationship between the Beauty and Well, the Classical and Romantic, all explain the limitation of Rousseau's thoughts on human's destiny and aesthetic problem.