9 - The Measure of the Possible

Summary

Human imagination is not merely a power of copying the sensibly present, but is a creative power of extending the ideas and therewith one desire beyond what is actual towards what is merely possible and in most cases never actual or actualizable. Jean-Jacques Rousseau's writing exploits this power by presenting unattainable objects as though they were possible. This chapter outlines the Second Discourse, where Rousseau offers an indication about how he is to be read. It reviews Of the Social Contract to discuss the instance of Rousseau's mise en scène which encourages the reader to overlook the true conditions of human nature and to regard what is impossible as though it were possible. The whole argument rests on the trunk of Rousseau's philosophy, which he seldom directly states but to which all the branches of his writings point.