Skip to main content Skip to search Skip to search

Political Science History & Theory

Instinct and Intimacy

Political Philosophy and Autobiography in Rousseau

by (author) Margaret Ogrodnick

Publisher
University of Toronto Press
Initial publish date
Jul 1999
Category
History & Theory, Political
  • Hardback

    ISBN
    9780802006127
    Publish Date
    Jul 1999
    List Price
    $84.00
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9781442676213
    Publish Date
    Jun 1999
    List Price
    $84.00

Classroom Resources

Where to buy it

Description

Drawing on his autobiographies, Margaret Ogrodnick analyses Jean-Jacques Rousseau's role as a theorist of the modern self, tracing the implications of his political thought. In elucidating the corresponding images in his autobiographical and philosophical works, the book attends especially to the hidden and intimate dimensions of the self. As a psychoanalytic thinker, Rousseau propounds the internal retrieval of instincts as the psychological basis of his democratic republic. As a philosopher of intimacy, he stresses the importance of intimate relations and private sentiments in building community bonds.

Themes of "instinct" and "intimacy" are explicated through considering his simultaneous reflection and transcendence of three psycho-cultural dichotomies: masculine and feminine, separation and oneness, and good and evil. In keeping with Rousseau's insistence on the unity of his person and his philosophy, these larger dichotomies are illuminated by uncovering the personal origins of his philosophy through his autobiographies. By analysing how the totality of his psyche imprints on his philosophy, this study traces the role of his powerful, primordial vision in establishing his deep political engagement, individualism, and democratic commitment.

About the author

Margaret Ogrodnick is Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Studies at the University of Manitoba.

Margaret Ogrodnick's profile page