Talk:Amour-propre

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La Rochefoucauld's maxims are absolutely loaded with talk about amour-propre. I was under the impression that he popularized or even coined the term (although I can't remember any specific source to back this up.) I also don't have access to an English copy of the Maxims and my French has gone to hell, so if anybody (probably a French classicist) knows more, I'd like to see it explained in this article. 210.100.214.7 (talk) 14:19, 2 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

No. I think that it's clear that Rousseau didn't think this, because then he wouldn't have written a book outlining how people might live together freely in society (The Social Contract). But even if that is not clear, it's certainly not uncontroversial that Rousseau thought that amour-propre precludes happiness in society. See Rawls's lectures on Rousseau, Dent's Rousseau Encyclopedia, and even the citation given for that view, which claims "amour-propre can contribute positively to human freedom and even virtue." I'm changing it.68.63.148.22 (talk) 22:32, 29 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]