The aporetic nature of Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s ethical and social reflection
The aporetic nature of Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s ethical and social reflection

Summary/Abstract: RESEARCH OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study is to lay the groundwork for reconstructing the pluralistic character of the ethical and social reflections of the Geneva thinker, reflections that may also be applied in contemporary debates concerning the proper form of state institutions. A further objective is to reinforce the argument for an open reading of Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s writings, which constitute a distinctive manifesto of anti-dogmatism. THE RESEARCH PROBLEM AND METHODS: The central issue addressed in this article is the demonstration of the polemical and multifaceted nature of Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s most important works, which makes it possible to challenge the accusations that the philosopher harbored a tendency toward designing a totalitarian state. The author confronts the assumptions underlying well-known interpretations of Rousseau’s philosophy with relevant passages from the primary texts. In discussing the contradictory outcomes of these analyses, he employs the Platonic notion of aporia as a preparatory stage for systematic dialectics. The critical examination of the arguments is further supplemented by a contemporary hermeneutic approach. THE PROCESS OF ARGUMENTATION: Rousseau’s writings are analyzed through the lens of his critique of the conventional patterns that dominated 18th-century salon discourse. Based on this polemical framework, the article highlights the role of ethics and education in enhancing the quality of the state’s legal and institutional order. As part of the process of falsification – an essential component of dialectical inquiry – the significance of skeptical arguments in Rousseau’s philosophy is examined, which enables a more comprehensive understanding of his implicit epistemological assumptions. This allows for a clearer understanding of the interconnections between political, social, and psychological forms of argumentation. The central integrating element of these three domains in Rousseau’s philosophy is pedagogy, which also serves as a propaedeutic foundation for the development of civic attitudes. RESEARCH RESULTS: The critical analysis of the Geneva thinker’s polemical writings reinforces the validity of interpreting his philosophical project as a pluralistic and socially grounded form of ethics. CONCLUSIONS, INNOVATIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS: The author highlights a metaphilosophical justification for interpretations of an open and essentially polemical character, as opposed to one-sided readings that marginalize the broad, informal, and argumentative style employed by the Genevan philosopher. The article argues that Platonic aporetics, when combined with contemporary hermeneutics, can provide an effective methodological framework for analyzing texts with complex and ambiguous narrative structures – both within philosophical inquiry and in cultural or literary studies.

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