Some philosophers argue that individual humans left to their natural impulses are fundamentally despicable, and that civilization reins in our negative tendencies. Other philosophers argue that humans are fundamentally good, but that civilization has corrupted us.
The shorthand for this debate is “Hobbes or Rousseau?” To paraphrase and simplify Hobbes, without civilization, life would be nasty, brutish, and short. To paraphrase and simplify Rousseau, humans were born free but are everywhere in chains. Rest easy, the Krueger Library retention list has you covered, whether you lean toward Hobbes or Rousseau.
Rogers, G. A., et al. Leviathan: Contemporary Responses to the Political Theory of Thomas Hobbes. Bristol, England: Thoemmes Press, 1995.
Rousseau, Jean-Jacques, and Pierre Burgelin. Du Contrat social. Paris: Flammarion, 1992.
Recap: In 2022, twenty-four Minnesota libraries joined together in a commitment to retain over a half-million print books which are scarcely-held in Minnesota. It is called the Minnesota Shared Print Collection. This is one of the stories from the Winona State share of the collection.
