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A review by sophie_howl
A Discourse on Inequality by Jean-Jacques Rousseau
4.0
The book itself was a little ripper, but here I wish to express my delight at the editor's inclusion of [a:Voltaire|5754446|Voltaire|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1393683411p2/5754446.jpg]'s commentary in the endnotes. Writing in the margins of the copy sent to him by Rousseau, Voltaire shows himself to be less than impressed by the efforts of his contemporary. Alongside single-word zingers like "Ridiculous" and "False", perhaps my favourite Voltairean shut-down follows this passage, where Rousseau claims that "savages" are incapable of experiencing the "moral" aspect of love:
"Imagination, which causes so much havoc among us, never speaks to the heart of savages; everyone quietly awaits the impulse of nature, responds to it involuntarily with more pleasure than frenzy; and once the need is satisfied, all desire is extinguished." (p. 103)
To which the salty Voltaire responds:
"How do you know? Have you ever seen savages making love?"
I dare say he hadn't, no.
May philosophical spatting live long and flourish for yet another three centuries to come!
"Imagination, which causes so much havoc among us, never speaks to the heart of savages; everyone quietly awaits the impulse of nature, responds to it involuntarily with more pleasure than frenzy; and once the need is satisfied, all desire is extinguished." (p. 103)
To which the salty Voltaire responds:
"How do you know? Have you ever seen savages making love?"
I dare say he hadn't, no.
May philosophical spatting live long and flourish for yet another three centuries to come!