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In order to compare the political philosophy of Jean-Jacques Rousseau with the French Neo-classicism of painter Jacques-Louis David in the context of duty to the state one has to consider the timeframe that shaped their thinking and the ways in which it influenced what they conveyed through their words and art. ... For example, David’s paintings portrayed the bold glory of the ancient Romans and based a great deal of his style on the gesture and form of Roman sculpture. ... Yet, David spent the last twenty years of his life as a political exile.
In comparison, Rousseau’s political writing proved to be of far more interest to the public than any of his artistic efforts. In fact, in the heated atmosphere of pre-revolution France, Rousseau’s ideas quickly became slogans for moral and social justice, for what he often called the “legitimate. ...
Rousseau was an undeniably keen philosophical writer with an inspiring and articulate means of expressing his point of view. ... As to whether or not Rousseau was genuinely the idealist he appeared to be throughout his writings is difficult to determine all of these hundreds of years later. ...
For Rousseau, a new civil society must be able to maintain all the best aspects of the natural human while adding the values that only political organization can provide. ... The central concept in Rousseau’s thought is “liberty,” and, as a result, most of his works deal with the mechanisms through which humans are forced to give up their liberty. ... ” These are the words by which Jean-Jacques Rousseau begins “The Social Contract” and inquiry as to the most “legitimate” form of political organization for man. ... Most modern political and social scientists believe that it was in the publication of “The Social Contract” that Rousseau reached the pinnacle of his political and philosophical development. ... Rousseau came to understand the essential aspects of the sense of community, of political obligation and the duty to organized society. In fact, the fundamental individual of the “Second Discourse” is actually abandoned by Rousseau, but only on favor of true individuality. The individualist and collectivist ideas are synthesized under the idea of law, through which, in Rousseau’s words “each one, uniting with all, nevertheless obeys only himself and remains as free as before” (“Social Contract I, vi, 360). ... Rousseau had made the transition from primitive individualism to a complex collectivism that attempted to balance liberty and authority.
In considering any painting created by Jacques-Louis David, it should be kept in mind that from 1799 to 1815 he served as the “official” painter to the emperor and his primary duties involved chronicling the reign of Napoleon I in enormous works of art such as “Coronation of Napoleon and Josephine”.
Approximate Word count = 2248
Approximate Pages = 9
(250 words per page double spaced)
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