ABSTRACT
In Jean-Jacques Rousseau's account in the Dialogues of the plight of Jean-Jacques, and in his account in the Reveries of his return to solitude, one can have his own immanent critique of his social theories, his rejection in his own person of the activities of the Tutor and the Legislator. In the Dialogues, Rousseau says of Jean-Jacques, 'he cannot say a word, or take a step, or lift a finger, without their knowing and willing it' they being the anonymous authors of the universal conspiracy against Jean-Jacques. Rousseau recognizes that a return to the primal human condition is impossible; the development of reason and feeling that Rousseau terms perfectibility is a one-way street. Rousseau's final self-understanding reveals the self as subject to the rule of loving cares. Julie dies in hope, and Jean-Jacques in reverie. He has rediscovered his true nature, but it exists for him only in recollection.
