Moreover, Rawls' Kant-inspired interpretation of Rousseau's concept of
amour-propre, as having both an equalitarian meaning, the desire to be recognized by others as an equal and a perverted meaning, the desire to dominate others, show Rousseau to not be inconsistent when arguing that in the society of the social contract,
amour-propre is fully realized.
Amour-propre, as distinct from the nondistinctively human amour de soi, is a sentiment or disposition that presupposes social relations: for it amounts to the social actor's concern for the image that others form of his merits and to a desire for their esteem.
He places
amour-propre among the "natural vices: pride, the spirit of domination,
amour-propre, the wickedness of man." (56) However, he must reconcile this "natural vice" with his fundamental premise that man is by nature good.
In her chansons, the famous singer Edith Piaf (French argot for "sparrow") ceaselessly sang the praises of love: 'toujours l'amour!' The French word '
amour-propre' is also used by English speakers in the meaning of 'self-esteem'.
Additionally, he selects certain topics for particular attention, with individual chapters on
amour-propre, on Rousseau's views about men and women (an especially strong discussion, I think), on Rousseau's treatment of some issues concerning language, and he closes with an extended treatment of Rousseau's religious ideas and views about the role of religion in society (chapters 10-12).
Chapter 3 (51-76) expands the discussion of Augustinian self-love into a reflection on amour de soi and
amour-propre, opposing the instinct for self-preservation and the love of order associated with the former to the self-deluding and disruptive nature of the latter.
One of the most celebrated features of Rousseau's thought is his distinction between two basic variants of self-love: amour de soi, which is absolute and thus indifferent to one's social standing, and
amour-propre, which is relative and thus deeply concerned with one's standing.
Henry Clark's well-documented study takes issue more boldly with the prevailing orthodoxy, by pointing to other likely origins, all of them secular, of the systematically harsh views of man's nature, centred on the concept of
amour-propre, with which the name of La Rochefoucauld has come to be associated.
Ce spectateur se sent abaisse dans son
amour-propre car il aurait voulu lui-meme, deviner la suite de l'action sans l'insistance du realisateur a n'instruire de la suite des evenements.
Here he wants to show that a similar problem of eros exists in Rousseau's concepts of
amour-propre and amour de soi.
What makes naturalness in an extended sense possible is a certain connection to original naturalness, more precisely, a certain relationship between "
amour-propre," the more threatening and relative form of self-love which tends to displace "amour de soi" in the souls of civilized people, and "amour de soi" itself.
The problem of the author and his relation to text and public is particularly crucial for Port-Royal in view of the corruption of the soul engendered by '
amour-propre' and in view of Jansenist unease in contact or commerce with the world in its most social sense.
Catherine's insights into people at the ripe old age of thirteen are impressive: "Je me suis apercue que les hommes n'etaient jamais plus faches que quand on blessait leur
amour-propre."
Cloth, $45.00; paper, $18.95--Laurence Cooper has offered a well-written, carefully argued, thought-provoking account of Rousseau's understanding of the primitive basis for the natural goodness of civil man and the relation between amour de soi and
amour-propre. His book exposes a troubling perplexity in Rousseau's work.
