Cristianismo e política na concepção de Rousseau: o conflito entre o ser e o parecer no século das luzes

• Autor(a) principal: Silva Neto, Otacílio Gomes da
• Data de Publicação: 2017
• Tipo de documento: Tese
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Biblioteca Digital de Teses e Dissertações da UFPB
• Texto Completo: https://repositorio.ufpb.br/jspui/handle/tede/9591
• topic: Ser; Parecer; Cristianismo; Política; História; Moral; Truth; Appearance; Christianity; Politics; History; Morality; CIENCIAS HUMANAS::FILOSOFIA

The objective of this dissertation is to investigate the links between Christianity and politics in the works of Rousseau, links that indicate movements of rupture and continuity between the two. It defends the thesis that, in the middle of these dynamic relationships, there is a process of restructuring Christianity, suggested by Rousseau, in which the political domain overrides the theological. First, I will develop a historical and critical reflection of the Old Regime and of Christianity from the points of view of the clerics Erasmus and Jean Meslier and demonstrate how the culture of Christianity was imbibed by the customs of aristocratic society. Secondly, I will present the concepts of reality and appearance as possible lenses with which to interpret the work of Rousseau with its ethical and political biases. I will substantiate the inquiry by exploring the historical, social and moral dimensions of Rousseau guided by the conflict between truth and appearance as it relates to Christianity. On the historical plane, the goal is to demonstrate Rousseau’s understanding of history, beginning with the improvement of civilization and followed, paradoxically, by the corruption of customs. Christianity is part of Rousseau´s understanding, to the extent that Christians abandon their life of earlier times—of poverty, simplicity and humility—when they begin to cultivate the sciences, liberal and visual arts and philosophy. The decadence of modern Christianity is the consequence, in part, of the change in attitude of Christians in history. On the social plane, I will demonstrate how the departure from the natural state for the civil state culminated in the “fall” of man to the civil state by way of the institution of property and of nascent moral and political inequality until the establishment of a new civil order proposed by Rousseau in the “Social Contract.” In the Social Contract, the objective of religion should be to strengthen the social ties between subjects and prevent individual will from overriding the general will through a “profession of civil faith” to which all members of the State should adhere. In this context, Christians should obey the dogmas imposed on them by the State through the general will, which limits their own beliefs and conscience. On the moral plane, the focus will be to demonstrate how vices invade and proliferate in human nature, having ramifications on society by forming men to live hypocritically, hypocrisy being an integral part of a society of masks. In this way, modern Christianity, Catholic or Protestant, beyond supporting local political powers, was absorbed by their structure and visible customs. By supporting such powers, the majority of the Christian churches encouraged intolerance and fanaticism against those who did not profess their beliefs. In the case of the official Catholicism of the Old Regime, beyond the abuses of fanaticism and intolerance, the hierarchy was practically part of the nobility, and thus, was subject to live in a society of masks and appearances. Clearly the restructuring of Christianity in Rousseau is relevant to a historical analysis because he denounced the abuses of the existing religion in contrast to authentic, primitive Christianity. It can also be included in a social analysis since Christians can live in the State conceived by the Social Contract as long as they follow their conscience and obey the “profession of civil faith.” It presents a strong moral appeal because the accusation falls on Christianity immersed in hypocrisy and in the Old Regime society of masks.