ABSTRACT
Rousseau does not offer an explicit theory of moral motivation per se, yet the concept is pivotal to his theories of morality and citizenship. In the simplicity of the state of nature, moral motivation is not even an issue, but in political works such as The Social Contract, he addresses not only the common human failure to ‘see’ the good but also the tendency to fail to act in accordance with the moral principles. The question of how human beings not only come to perceive what is genuinely good but are also moved to act in accordance with that perception extends beyond the general will to virtue in general. For Rousseau, rhetoric plays an important role in giving shape to people’s inclinations and attachments and thus to their development of the disposition to act morally. This essay looks at the kind of rhetoric that he thinks is most efficacious in this regard.
