Are humans naturally good given the right circumstances? Or are we flawed and in need of threats and guidelines to keep us on the straight and narrow? The split is a legacy of radical ideas stretching back to the revolutionary 18th century.<\/p>\n
Perhaps the most famous proponent of intrinsic human goodness is Rousseau, who claimed in Emile (1762) that children are born virtuous. As Rousseau sees it, we only need freedom, love and the right environment to spontaneously come to an understanding of what\u2019s right.<\/p>\n
When Emile was first published, it stood in stark challenge to the then-dominant view, emerging from the Christian tradition, that humans are tainted by \u2018original sin\u2019. From this vantage point, we\u2019re naturally flawed, and must always struggle against our less virtuous instincts. Rousseau\u2019s claim so appalled adherents of this then-dominant view that copies of his book were burned in the street.<\/p>\n
Today, though, the boot is on the other foot. The high-status view among contemporary elites is unmistakeably Team Rousseau.<\/p>\n
Read it all<\/a>.<\/p>\n Why anarchy has come to America @UnHerd<\/a> https:\/\/t.co\/JU4H1Ncxip<\/a> Public order has been sacrificed on the altar of empathy pic.twitter.com\/FhuvyN7Zjx<\/a><\/p>\n — Faenerator (@Faenerator) November 24, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n \n