APU HUMN541 2020 December Week 6 Discussion Latest

HUMN541 Enlightenment and the Modern World

Week 6 Discussion

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

In Confessions, Rousseau notes his studies in a way that refuses to highlight his intellectual achievements, but instead draws attention to his emotional response:

"To complete me, I had mingled a little physiology among my other readings: I set about studying anatomy, and considering the multitude, movement, and wonderful construction of the various parts that composed the human machine; my apprehensions were instantly increased, I expected to feel mine deranged twenty times a day, and far from being surprised to find myself dying, was astonished that I yet existed!" (150)

Considering that his Confessions were published after his death, when most readers would have been more familiar with Rousseau as a philosopher, pedagogue, and composer, what does his inclusion of embarrassing and intimate details suggest about the moral, intellectual, or physical attributes of human beings?  How does this idea relate to one's personal and professional lives today?