Humanitas in Rousseau and Kant

The legacy of Humanity can be found in the Greco-Latin Humanitas . This concept is two-fold. It incorporates the ideals of both humaneness and cultivation. Rousseau thought we were cultivated in the 18th century, but not humane. There was, consequently, a breakdown between the humane and cultivated aspects of our self-definition. He tried to consider if we were ever humane, or if we were, how did we go 'wrong'. He developed this idea of the 'state of nature', a kind of 'Garden of Eden', and then traced the devolution to our current inhumanity and inequality. Rousseau considered an ideal political framework that would allow for a new humanity with the idea of a social contract. The social contract entails the view that the only legitimate authority is the general will or government by consent. Though Rousseau was more in favor of a simple notion of intelligence, rather than worldly cleverness, he did appreciate competence in natural sciences, the arts, and crafts. Kant agreed with Rousseau that we were not currently humane, but had a different explanation of human history. Cultivated abilities were very important to him. Still, he could not deny our 'unsocial sociability'. He considered the 'state of nature', and then offered his own political and moral solutions. Although both Kant and Rousseau believed that the mistreatment of animals and nature had an inevitable backlash on humans, their chief concern was honoring and dignifying humanity in ourselves and others. Rousseau and Kant also considered pre-political relationships or social arrangements in the family and society, and also the childhood of human(e) history. They then offered complementary suggestions on how to educate fully humane and fully cultivated individuals.