come later. The paradoxes to which his introductory theories had led would likewise then be removed by the positive presentation.
Three distinct classes of ideas (as may be seen from the preface to the Discours de l'inegalite) influenced Rousseau from the first in the formation of his theory of nature: a theological, a zoological and a psychological. Nature is a divine product, but civilization is a human product. The state of nature is therefore a state of perfection, of "heavenly and majestic simplicity." We are here reminded of the Garden of Eden. But other passages describe the state of nature as a life of pure instinct, in which no needs beyond the purely physical exist, and in which reflection and imagination are wholly undeveloped. Rousseau passes from the department of theology to that of zoology without being aware of it. The real source of his theory of nature however is psychological. As a matter of fact Rousseau is not concerned about any far distant past, but with a matter which he was able to discover within his own soul. "Nature" consists of the immediate, total energy of life, spontaneous development, rather than the restraint and complexity which civilization so readily brings with it. Man has a natural tendency to assert himself, to develop aptitudes and impulses. And this spontaneous tendency is so powerful, the hidden source of life is so rich, that self-assertion in itself in nowise contradicts sympathy, or resignation and self-denial. The individual originally made no distinction between himself and others. The stream which issues from within extends to all beings which are similarly constituted to the individual himself: La force d'une ame expansive m'identifie avec mon semblable. Kindness and love are therefore natural. Even religious emotion—in the form of gratitude, admiration and rever-
