He must translate these luminous
convictions of his soul into arguments and conclusions. He could not,
even to himself, admit that they were only intuitions; and in the
_Contrat Social_ he turned the reason to the service of a certainty not
her own.
This unremitting endeavour to express an intuitive certainty in
intellectual terms lies at the root of the many superficial
contradictions in his work, and of the deeper contradiction which forms,
as it were, the inward rhythm of his three great books. He seems to
surge upwards on a passionate wave of revolutionary ideas, only to sink
back into the calm of conservative or quietist conclusions. M. Masson
has certainly observed it well.
'Le premier _Discours_ anathematise les sciences et les arts, et ne
voit le salut que dans les academies; le _Discours sur l'Inegalite_
parait detruire tout autorite, et recommande pourtant "l'obeissance
scrupuleuse aux lois et aux hommes qui en sont les auteurs": la
_Nouvelle Heloise_ preche d'abord l'emancipation sentimentale, et
proclame la suprematie des droits de la passion, mais elle aboutit a
exalter la fidelite conjugale, a consolider les grands devoirs
familiaux et sociaux.
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