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Jean-Jacques Rousseau 1712-78
French philosopher and political theorist
'Man was born free, but everywhere he in chains.'
The opening line of The Social Contract illustrates Jean-Jacques Rousseau's central thesis: man is good by nature but has been corrupted by society and civilisation. Society, he believed, prevented true freedom and engendered inequality.
Rousseau was no anarchist. He stated that a civil society could exist in which freedom was possible, as long as it was based on a genuine social contract. Through this, in exchange for their independence, people would find a truer freedom — a type of political liberty.
Rousseau's political theory is highly problematic, since he argued that, in certain circumstances, people should be 'forced to be free'. Although he did not opt for totalitarianism, he did say that individuals could be impelled to follow the general will.
Rousseau's impact was also notable outside the field of political philosophy. He argued for greater freedom in music and the arts. In addition, he pressed for social freedom, in the sense that polite restraint should be replaced by greater emotional expression in friendship, love and parenthood.
Find out more …
The European Enlightenment
www.wsu.edu/~dee/ENLIGHT/ROUSSEAU.HTM
Good biography with links to Rousseau's Social Contract and his earlier treatises.
Discourse on Political Economy
www.constitution.org/jjr/polecon.htm
Contains Rousseau’s treatise.
Jean-Jacques: The early life of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, 1712-1754 by Maurice Cranston (University of Chicago Press, 1982) £14.50.
Looks at Rousseau’s work and early life.
Isadora Duncan (Angela Duncan) 1877-1927
American dancer
Isadora Duncan was the first lady of modern dance. At a time when ballet dancers were curtailed by the conservative traditions of the discipline, Duncan broke away, heralding a new era of liberty. A free spirit both on stage and off, she abhorred the idea of marriage (although she did marry the Russian poet Sergei Yesinin, 17 years her junior, so that he could accompany her to the United States) and had children out of wedlock.
Born and brought up in California, Duncan studied classical ballet, but even as a child she rejected it in favour of more natural movement. She danced in New York, but found little success, and so moved to England to continue her career. Patronised by a celebrated actress, Duncan found London more accommodating than New York. Her dancing, characterised by complete freedom of movement, took the European dance world by storm, as did her preference for dancing barefoot, clad as a wood nymph.
Ultimately, Duncan's life was wracked by tragedy. Her two children by Paris Singer, the sewing-machine heir, were killed in a car accident, and her Russian lover, suffering from mental illness, committed suicide. Duncan herself was strangled to death when her scarf became entangled in the wheels of a car in which she was riding.
Find out more …
Britannica.com
www.britannica.com/eb/article?eu=31985&tocid=0
Biography with links to those close to her.
My Life by Isadora Duncan (Liveright Books, 1998) £10.99.
Autobiography of the American dancer whose teaching and performances helped free ballet from its conservative restrictions.
Timothy Leary 1920-1996
American psychologist
'If you take the game of life seriously ... you must turn on, tune in and drop out.'
Timothy Leary was an amiable but unremarkable college professor at Harvard until he discovered psilocybin (magic mushrooms) in the late 1950s. He began experimenting with hallucinogenic drugs, and came to believe that the key to higher consciousness could be found in a pill. Leary formed the Harvard Psychedelic Drug Research Program, administering drugs to graduate students. The university took a dim view of his experiments and Leary was dismissed in 1963.
By now he had a high public profile. He continued to advocate the use of drugs, particularly LSD, issuing certificates in acid dropping to his numerous followers, a practice that many thought trivialised serious research into hallucinogenic drugs. But it was conservative America who feared him most — Nixon labelled him 'the most dangerous man in America'. He was investigated by the FBI and imprisoned in 1970. He escaped, fled to Algeria and Afghanistan, was apprehended and returned to prison.
On his release in 1976, Leary lectured on a number of made-up subjects (for example, neuro-geography) — often bizarrely teamed up with ex-Watergate burglar and arch-conservative G Gordon Liddy — and designed computer software. An internet enthusiast, Leary had his death in 1996 filmed by web cam and broadcast over the net. His ashes were later sent into space.
Find out more …
The Timothy Leary Biography
www.leary.com/Biography
Biographical site with chat rooms and archive information on his death.
The Politics of Ecstasy by Timothy Leary (Ronin Publishing, 1991) £12.99.
Originally published in 1970, this is Leary's most provocative and influential exploration of human consciousness. It includes his early pronouncements on the psychedelic movement, and his views on the social and political ramifications of the related mystical experience.