 |
Of Chains, Caves, and Slaves: Allegory and Illusion in Rousseau
| |
| | Unformatted Document Text:
Of Chains, Caves, and Slaves: Allegory and Illusion in Rousseau
David Lay Williams
Assistant Professor of Political Science and Philosophy
University of Wisconsin—Stevens Point
Stevens Point, WI 54481
Phone: (715) 346-4109
Fax: (715) 346-4215
Email: david.## email not listed ##
The opening of Rousseau’s Social Contract—“Man is born free, and everywhere he is inchains”—is rightly famous as one of his most significant passages. Lost in the extensivetreatment of his work, however, is the metaphorical meaning of these chains. This essay seeks toredress this by connecting this passage with his myriad references to chains in all his substantialworks and, further, to Plato’s Allegory of the Cave, the origin of the chain in Western politicaltheory. Drawing these connections helps make Rousseau’s varied works more coherent and atthe same time suggests deeper connections to Platonic thought.
*Prepared for delivery at the 2004 Annual Meeting of the American Political Science
Association, September 2 - September 5, 2004.
Copyright by the American Political Science Association.
|
| | Authors: Williams, David Lay. |
|
| |
|
|
Of Chains, Caves, and Slaves: Allegory and Illusion in Rousseau
David Lay Williams
Assistant Professor of Political Science and Philosophy
University of Wisconsin—Stevens Point
Stevens Point, WI 54481
Phone: (715) 346-4109
Fax: (715) 346-4215
Email: david.## email not listed ##
The opening of Rousseau’s Social Contract—“Man is born free, and everywhere he is in
chains”—is rightly famous as one of his most significant passages. Lost in the extensive
treatment of his work, however, is the metaphorical meaning of these chains. This essay seeks to
redress this by connecting this passage with his myriad references to chains in all his substantial
works and, further, to Plato’s Allegory of the Cave, the origin of the chain in Western political
theory. Drawing these connections helps make Rousseau’s varied works more coherent and at
the same time suggests deeper connections to Platonic thought.
*Prepared for delivery at the 2004 Annual Meeting of the American Political Science
Association, September 2 - September 5, 2004.
Copyright by the American Political Science Association.
|
|
 Convention | | All Academic Convention is the premier solution for your association's abstract management solutions needs. | | Submission - Custom fields, multiple submission types, tracks, audio visual, multiple upload formats, automatic conversion to pdf. | | Review - Peer Review, Bulk reviewer assignment, bulk emails, ranking, z-score statistics, and multiple worksheets! | | Reports - Many standard and custom reports generated while you wait. Print programs with participant indexes, event grids, and more! | | Scheduling - Flexible and convenient grid scheduling within rooms and buildings. Conflict checking and advanced filtering. | | Communication - Bulk email tools to help your administrators send reminders and responses. Use form letters, a message center, and much more! | | Management - Search tools, duplicate people management, editing tools, submission transfers, many tools to manage a variety of conference management headaches! | | Click here for more information. |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Page 1 of 55 
