19
unrestrained one. The consequences of these seemingly benign restrictions, however, are dire.
Since the child cannot move, it finds its only freedom in crying. “Having nothing free but voice,
how would they not make use of it to complain? They cry because you are hurting them. Thus
garroted, you would cry harder than they do” (E, 44 [IV: 254-55]).
This constant crying is not without consequence. It builds deep patterns of
behavior that ultimately shape the social world. While crying may begin as a natural response to
its bonds, it slowly transforms into something far more disturbing. It gives birth to “the idea of
empire and dominion” (E, 66 [IV: 287]). This is because the child soon learns that crying is more
than simply an exercise of its limited capacity for freedom. It is a command. The only means by
which the child can satisfy its desires—reasonable or otherwise—is by crying. When it sees
adults responding to its tears, it soon learns that this is how to make others responsive to its
whim. “Children begin by getting themselves assisted; they end by getting themselves served”
(E, 66 [IV: 287]). Thus the chains form a vicious cycle. The fetters placed on young children
ultimately feed their desire to enchain others. And so it goes, ad infinitum. Rousseau’s
prescription for this malady is to grant the children more freedom from infancy forward. If the
child has the liberty to grasp the objects of its desire, it will not grow accustomed to making
others instruments of its whims.
12
Another chain in the Emile is imposed by opinion. “Even domination is servile
when it is connected with opinion, for you depend on the prejudices of those you govern by
prejudices. To lead them as you please, you must conduct yourself as you please. They have
only to change their way of thinking, and you must perforce change your way of acting” (E, 83
12 Rousseau’s first formulation of this pattern comes in the New Heloise (466-67 [II: 569-70]).
Convention