Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Social Media:

Amour Propre as Foundation of a Just Society

through the Digital Environment

A Thesis

Submitted to

Faculty of Arts and Letters

University of Santo Tomas

In Partial Fulfillment

Of the requirements for the degree,

Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy

By

Sean Villas
 ABSTRACT

Rousseau claims that humans originally led more solitary lives in the early stages of the

world. As humans advance, however, their psychological and material relationships with one

another, as well as how they view themselves, change. Humans began to compete with one

another, thus giving birth to Amour Propre. Amour propre is Rousseau's phrase for this new kind

of self-interested desire that is concerned with relative success or failure as a social person (love

of self, often rendered as pride or vanity in English translations). As society progresses more

towards modernity, man becomes increasingly isolated from his “natural state”, and Amour

Propre becomes more inflamed. The state of modernization and its consequences manifests itself

largely through social media. Amour propre has 2 main interpretations; The wide view and the

traditional view. In order to provide a coherent analysis of social media, I must establish a

specific interpretation which is the wide view. My argument as to why this is the better

understanding of Amour Propre is proven by my analysis of Rousseau’s different works. The

wide view of amour propre is then used to explore how Rousseau’s notion of amour propre

manifests in Social Media through identity politics and the digital economy. Through this, we

establish a positive form of Amour Propre which would be the basis of Rousseau’s notion of a

just society.

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter 1: Introduction…………………………………………………………………3

1. Interpretations of Amour Propre: Traditional vs. Wide View…………………...…...7

2. The Traditional View of Amour Propre………………………………………………...9

3. The Function of Each Chapter and How it Contributes to the Whole

Thesis………………………………………………………………………………….....16

4. Methodology…………………………………………………………………………….17

Chapter 2: Why the Traditional View Fails and Why the Wide View

Succeeds…………………………………………………………...……………………....……18

1. A Defense For the Traditional View of Amour Propre…………..……………...……18

2. My Defense of the Wide View of Amour Propre……………………………...……....20

2.1 The Role of Compassion vs the Role of Self-love/Self-esteem in the Second

Discourse ………………………………………………………………………………………..20

2.2 The Role of Compassion vs The Role of Self-love/Self-esteem in Emile...22

Chapter 3: How Amour Propre Manifests in Social Media………………………….26

1. How Social Media Enables Amour Propre to be Inflamed…………………………..27

2. The Potential of Positive Amour Propre in Social Media……………………………30

Chapter 4: The Potential of Social Media as an Instrument of Achieving Rousseau’s

Notion of a Just Society………………………………………………………………….

1. Rousseau’s notion of a Just Society in the Social Contract

2. The Positive Form of Amour Propre as Foundation of a Just Society

Chapter 5: Conclusion…………………………………………………………………..

References……………………………………………………………………………….33

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Introduction

Rousseau frequently asserts, as his core argument on the nature of humanity, that people
are good by nature and that society ultimately corrupts them. In his work, The Discourse on the
Origins of Inequality, he envisions a progression or evolution of humanity from its most
prehistoric stage to a more sophisticated, complex society. He argues that because they do not
depend on one another to meet their basic needs, humans originally led more solitary lives in the
early stages of the world. As humans advance, however, their psychological and material
relationships with one another, as well as how they view themselves, change. Simple, unstable
forms of human cooperation emerged around occupations like hunting as the population of
humans increased. According to Rousseau, a stage of society characterized by small settled
communities is when the primary transitional moment in human history takes place. The natural
drive that people have to take care of themselves changes or splits at this moment. Humans
compete with one another to entice sexual partners, which causes them to reflect on their own
attractiveness to others and how it compares to that of possible rivals.

Amour propre is Rousseau's phrase for this new kind of self-interested desire that is
concerned with relative success or failure as a social person (love of self, often rendered as pride
or vanity in English translations). Each person's need to be respected and valued by others
becomes a primary concern in the notion of amour propre. The more recent interpretations hold
that amour propre, by developing among other things like human intellectual capacities and their
feeling of themselves as social creatures, is both the source of humanity's fall and the promise of
its redemption. It's important to remember that Rousseau also believed there are, at least in
theory, ways of structuring social life and individual education that allow amour propre to take
on a positive form, despite the fact that he held that the overwhelming tendency, socially and
historically, is for amour propre to take on toxic and self-defeating forms.

3
 As society progresses more towards modernity, man becomes increasingly isolated from
his “natural state”, and Amour Propre becomes more inflamed. The state of modernization and
its consequences (Amour Propre in this case) manifests itself largely through social media.1
Social media are interactive digital channels that facilitate the creation and sharing of
information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and
networks. Social media, which are filled with daily communication and sharing of ourselves,
both the mundane and eventful moments with others, are intertwined with our identities. Because
of the attendant sociability of the digital economy, where we may perform our identities, join a
group, and nevertheless stand out through our distinct online presence—whether through our
profile or through our interactions—the idea of amour propre gains new relevance.2

Once more, Rousseau contends that man is alone in his natural state. He lacks social
connection, is self-sufficient, and is primarily interested in protecting himself. There is no
requirement for contact in our natural condition. As we enter society, Amour Propre, or self-love,
a new unnatural property, comes into play. Man loses his freedom from other animals when he
starts interacting with them and developing dependencies. Amour Propre's comparative element
tempts men to compare themselves to one another and fuels their desire to be valued by others.
According to Rousseau, this dependency produces inequalities since it makes the weak the
inferior and the strong the superior.3

The issue of social comparison is one aspect that is frequently investigated using social
media. Through their friends' posts, people draw comparisons between their own life and those
of their friends. The things that are frequently posted online are the positive aspects of people's
lives, leading others to wonder why their own lives are not as exciting or fulfilling.4 This is
because people are motivated to present themselves in a way that is appropriate to the situation

1
Rousseau, self-love, and an increasingly connected world. OUPblog. Retrieved July 21, 2022, from
https://blog.oup.com/2017/06/rousseau-self-love/
2
Social Media's relation to the idea of "amour propre". Jason Lieblang. (n.d.). Retrieved July 21, 2022,
from https://blogs.ubc.ca/a1lieblang/2016/11/05/social-medias-relation-to-the-idea-of-amour-propre/
3
Rousseau and Social Media Dilemma Malaysian PhilosophySociety. (2022, May 15). Retrieved July 13,
2022, from https://www.myphilsoc.com/index.php/2020/12/26/rousseau-the-social-dilemma/
4
Chua, Trudy Hui Hui; Chang, Leanne (2016). "Follow me and like my beautiful selfies: Singapore
teenage girls' engagement in self-presentation and peer comparison on social media". Computers in
Human Behavior. 55: 190–7

4
and serves their best interests. One study published in 2017 discovered a link between
problematic social media use, or feeling addicted to social media, and lower life satisfaction and
self-esteem scores. The authors theorized that users may believe that if their lives aren't exciting
enough to post online, they aren't as good as their friends or family.5

Studies have also indicated that self-comparison on social media, where we have the
option to seek acceptance and compare ourselves, can have detrimental impacts on our physical
and mental health. In one study, social media was rated as the second-most important element
affecting men's body image satisfaction, while women rated it as the most important6. As a result
of the quantity of followers that influencers and celebrities have on social media, people can now
continually be exposed to and aware of their presence online. This constant online presence
makes people much more conscious of how others appear, which has led to problems with body
comparisons, for example, because people are much more aware of the ideal body type. As a
result, the idea of amour propre, or self-love that is based on other people's opinions, is most
relevant in today's society. This notion is becoming more and more significant in today's
consciousness due to the extensive building of self and peer evaluations in social media.

In contrast to Rousseau's description of village festivals as places for showcasing one's

uniqueness and talents, social media gives others a chance to see us act for them, thereby gaining
their approval. The necessity to continually control one's online presence has made it possible for
a variety of behaviors related to ideas of vanity, narcissism, and self-representation to arise.
According to one survey7millennials spend a lot of time sharing photos and are fast to delete or
untag pictures that aren't favorable. An intensive focus on impression management online has
also resulted from ongoing efforts to display oneself favorably. The emergence of social
networking sites and its focus on creating profiles have led to an increase in the "narcissistic

5
Hawi, N.S.; Samaha, M. (2017). "The Relations Among Social Media Addiction, Self-Esteem, and Life
Satisfaction in University Students". Social Science Computer Review. 35 (5): 576–586.
6
Stefanone, M.A.; Lackaff, D.; Rosen, D. (2011). "Contingencies of Self-Worth and
Social-Networking-Site Behavior" (PDF). Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking. 14 (1–2):
41–9.
7
Madden, M., Lenhart, A., Cortesi, S., Gasser, U., Duggan, M., Smith, A., & Beaton, M. (2019, December
31). Part 2: Information sharing, friending, and privacy settings on social media. Pew Research Center: Internet,
Science & Tech. Retrieved November 21, 2022, from
https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2013/05/21/part-2-information-sharing-friending-and-privacy-settings-on-soci
al-media/

5
turn" online8 as a means of creating one's own identity. The use of social networking sites by
millennials is frequently motivated by narcissism, such as the desire to have the most SNS
friends possible, the desire to share their activities with SNS friends, the belief that SNS friends
are interested in what they are doing, and the desire to have positive SNS profiles. Because of
this, our society is like a glasshouse where everyone can see everything that we do. Through this
visibility, this glasshouse civilization produces and preserves countless occurrences. In these
places where individuals may watch and rate one another, Rousseau's village has been somewhat
transplanted. Because of the transparency of our transactions, we are able to rate others and
perform identities, and as a result, one's sense of self is validated by the peer group and the
outside world.

The Function of Each Chapter and How it Contributes to the Whole Thesis

Chapter 1 is where I provide a brief introduction of Rousseau’s notion of amour propre

and how it is found in modern society through social media. Rousseau claims that as man enters
society and begins to interact with other humans, he disposes his natural state wherein an
artificial emotion is born — amour propre. This notion has two interpretations in which I discuss
in the chapter, the traditional view and the wide view. In Chapter 2, I revisit the two
interpretations of amour propre and argue why the wide view succeeds, while the other fails.
This is necessary as amour propre has its controversy and it is important that I establish a
specific interpretation that would be used as a basis in analyzing amour propre’s presence in
social media. My argument for the defense of the wide view of amour propre would be executed
by exploring the different works of Rousseau such as The Social Contract, Rousseau juge de
Jean-Jacques, Emile, and the Discourse on The Origin of Inequality. The 3rd Chapter is where I
explore how the wide view of amour propre manifests in social media. I will specify how both
the negative and the positive aspects of the notion exist in the different trends and events of
several social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, etc.

8
Ibrahim, Yasmin. “Social Networking Sites (SNS) and the ‘Narcissistic Turn'.” Collaborative
Technologies and Applications for Interactive Information Design, 2010, 82–95.
https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-60566-727-0.ch006.

6
 The subject of social media is broad and its influence on society as a whole is immense. It
has impacted our culture, economy and the general view of the world. As such, the researcher
does not fully expound on the influences of social media to human behavior and society. The
discussions of social media in this study is limited only in its relation to amour propre and to how
the notion applies, which revolves around its ability to allow the construction of an identity that
acts as social capital which then facilitates a consumption and exchange economy of this built
identity.

Rousseau’s accounts of human nature and its ailments provides us an opportunity to

redeem ourselves from the corruption and inequality that modern society has birthed. In his
works, he explores the origins of human inequality through his notion of amour propre, where he
posits that this new artificial emotion as enabled by society may be the cause of humanity's fall
as well as the promise of its redemption. Rousseau’s study of inequality provides both the cause
and the solution to this problem, and so identifying how amour propre manifests in modern
society (in social media specifically) allows us to develop the proper moral and psychological
attributes that would aid in the development of a just society in the digital age.

As such, this thesis aims to examine the aspects of social media platforms through the
concept of Rousseau’s self-love, or amour propre. It analyzes how this concept is relevant in
today’s digital culture and self narration online. The researcher shall present the various elements
of amour propre and how it is embedded in the modern age, specifically on social media. As
such, we are able to further understand our circumstances through the lens of Rousseau and thus
provide the foundation for the development of theory that may inform future researchers.

Methodology

The selected designs and strategies of this methodology are specifically chosen to solve
the study's research problems. Its main aim is to prove the relation between Rousseau's notion of
amour propre with the modern digital age as represented by social media. This is achieved by the
researcher through an analysis of amour propre by providing different interpretations of the

7
notion as argued by Dent, Rawls, Neuhouser and Cohen, as well as the traditional view that is
defended by Allan Bloom. Through the discussion of the traditional and wide view of amour
propre, we then proceed to a coherent analysis of social media and the manifestation of amour
propre in the digital economy. The design and strategies of this methodology also allows us to
understand the correlation of social media as a constitution of both the digital economy and
identity politics, as well as amour propre as a behaviour that permeates the consciousness of
humans through the early stages of civilization up until the modern day.

As mentioned earlier, the aim of this study is to understand Rousseau’s notion of Amour
Propre and how it operates in the digital environment. An inductive research design is used to
analyze the existing literature of Rousseau’s works and the data on social media users to prove a
correlation on Rousseau’s notion of amour propre and the identity politics and digital economy
of social media. The data gathered to accomplish the goal of this study are qualitative data. This
is the most optimal choice of research design as the thesis attempts to connect the main works of
Rousseau and the modern surveys and studies on social media, which makes surveys and
literature as the primary sources of information. The research design also operates mainly on
content analysis, as the primary sources of information are secondary. The selected literature
were taken from Rousseau’s main works and the information was gathered through an
exhaustive examination of his main works, with careful analysis on its several interpretations.
The study also cites journal articles to maintain the arguments of the researcher.

The information gathered was solely through existing data, as mentioned earlier, through
content analysis of published literature and surveys. The data was selected based on its relevance
with Rousseau’s notion of amour propre and the themes of social media that concerns Rousseau’s
notion, namely the digital economy and identity politics. It should be noted that the discussions
of social media revolve around only in relation to amour propre, which, again, are the digital
economy and the identity politics. The researcher asserts that the methods and designs used in
the methodology are sufficient to satisfy the problems of the research, which are: (change slides)

As Rousseau’s Amour Propre becomes more important in social media, it is important we

identify exactly how it manifests itself in online conditions. Although amour propre may also be

8
examined in offline environments, social media provides a unique circumstance in how the
notion operates. It should also be noted that amour propre has different interpretations, and so
choosing a specific understanding of the notion must also be first established. As such, the study
aims to answer the following questions.

How does amour propre present itself in the digital environment?

1. What is amour propre and its different interpretations?
2. What is social media and how does it influence our behavior?
3. What are the positive and negative forms of amour propre in the digital
environment?

Interpretations of Amour Propre: Traditional vs. Wide view

One of the most mysterious authors in the history of philosophy is Rousseau. Whether he
is an individualist or a collectivist, rationalist or irrationalist, socialist or non-socialist, a Deist,
Catholic or Protestant, etc., is a topic of debate among commentators. Some observers have
claimed that Rousseau is an inconsistent writer because in each of these conflicts, both sides can
cite passages from Rousseau's writings to support their points of view. However, this decision
undervalues the quality of Rousseau's works. In this section, I present the different views of
Rousseau’s concept of amour-propre, namely the traditional and the wide view which are
advocated by John Rawls, Nicholas Dent, Frederick Neuhouser and Joshua Cohen, and in the
following chapters I will argue why the traditional view fails while the wide view succeeds.

Amour-propre can be translated as pride or conceit, as well as as self-esteem or love of

oneself. The majority of commentators concur that Rousseau's use of amour-propre contrasts
with amour de soi, which is frequently interpreted as a form of self-love or self-esteem that is
independent of others and which refers to the desire for one's well-being or for self-preservation.
But there is debate over what amour-propre actually means, as Rousseau's concept of
amour-propre, or the desire to be better than others, is traditionally viewed as being wholly
negative. This theory holds that men are self-sufficient and free in nature because their amour de

9
soi can be satisfied by taking care of their basic needs; however, in society, amour de soi is
replaced with amour-propre, which can never be satisfied, leaving men unfree and unhappy. This
interpretation holds that Rousseau's psychological cure for this ailment is to liberate oneself from
the shackles of amour-propre and return to amour de soi. However, many who disagree with this
conventional interpretation of amour-propre contend that it also has a positive side. For instance,
according to Dent, Rawls, Cohen, and Neuhouser, the conventional viewpoint is inadequate for
comprehending Rousseau's body of work as a whole. They draw attention to the fact that this
viewpoint appears to conflict with Rousseau's beliefs in Emile and the Social Contract. What
constitutes the psychological framework for the society defined in the Social Contract if
amour-propre only emerges negatively? Additionally, this perspective ignores some of
Rousseau's findings from Emile, where he specifically asserts that amour-propre can take on a
positive form. Since, in their opinion, compassion rather than amour-propre provides the
psychological foundation for the society Rousseau depicts in The Social Contract, proponents of
the traditional view contend that their reading of amour-propre is also compatible with
Rousseau's other writings. It is this wide view of amour-propre, as well as the traditional view
that I explore in this chapter.

The Traditional View of Amour Propre

What is the cause of moral inequality according to Rousseau's Discourse on the Origin of
Inequality? He makes a contrast between social inequality (or what he refers to as moral
inequality), which includes inequalities in fame, power, riches, etc., and natural inequality, which
includes differences in age, health, physical strength, and mental quality. He contends that the
first type of inequality is acceptable since it prevents the development of dominance and
subordination relationships, but a careful analysis is required to determine whether the second
type of inequality may also be justified. What caused social inequality in the first place?

10
According to Rousseau, the basic human nature is composed entirely of inclinations and skills
that come from nature. The natural talents are perfectibility and free will, while the original
dispositions are self-love (amour de soi) and pity. He contends that social inequality does not
begin in human nature because it was not caused by our innate tendencies or our innate skills.
Moral disparity must therefore have its roots somewhere other than in human nature. The
traditional view holds that this inequality has its roots in an artificial emotion known as
"amour-propre," or the desire for social privileges. According to the traditional view, as
amour-propre develops and agriculture and metallurgy advance, social inequality increases; as
private property becomes institutionalized, the gap between the rich and the poor widens; and as
political institutions are created to safeguard the interests of the wealthy, a new type of social
inequality—the gap between the powerful and the powerless—emerges. The poor and powerless
are compelled to sell themselves under this regime in order to survive. The wealthy and powerful
take advantage of those who are less fortunate while they are controlled or alienated by their
irrational desire for status, fortune, and power. Everyone in society is therefore involved in a
relationship of dominance and subordination, alienation and submission, and exploitation and
suppression. So, in accordance with the traditional view, amour-propre is the urge to outrank
others that drives men to compete and cause harm to one another. As Rousseau states:

Finally, consuming ambition, the ardent desire to raise one’s relative fortune less out of
genuine need than in order to place oneself above others, instills in all men a black inclination to
harm one another, a secret jealousy that is all the more dangerous as it often assumes the mask
of benevolence in order to strike its blow in greater safety: in a word, competition and rivalry on
the one hand, conflict of interests on the other, and always the hidden desire to profit at another’s
expense; all these evils are the first effect of property, and the inseparable train of nascent
inequality9

Following the passage mentioned above, it is natural to view amour-propre as solely negative,
according to the traditional view, “the ardent desire to raise one’s relative fortune less out of
genuine need than in order to place oneself above others.”

9
Rousseau, Jean-Jacques, and Victor Gourevitch. Rousseau: The Discourses and Other Early Political
Writings. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press, 2019.

11
According to this view, Rousseau is naturally understood as expressing in Emile a desire to
reclaim amour de soi through emancipating oneself from the bonds of amour-propre, as
Rousseau states:
Self-love, which regards only ourselves, is contented when our true needs are
satisfied. But amour-propre, which makes comparisons, is never content and never could be,
because this sentiment, preferring ourselves to others, also demands others to prefer us to
themselves, which is impossible. This is how the gentle and affectionate passions are born of
self-love, and how the hateful and irascible passions are born of amour-propre 10

According to the traditional view, Emile's educational goal is to use negative or natural
education to help him distinguish between his social self and his natural self. In other words, this
interpretation holds that Emile can be his authentic, liberated, and content self even in a corrupt
society by preventing the birth of amour-propre. This interpretation appears to be supported by
the values that guided Emile's moral growth at its initial stages. As an example, the first rule is to
“let children have all the strength that nature gives them-—a strength they would not know how
to abuse”; the next principle is to “aid and supplement what is lacking to them, whether in
intelligence or strength, in all that is connected with physical need” the third is to “limit oneself
solely to the really useful, without granting anything to whim or to desire without reason” and
the fourth is to “distinguish in their desires what comes immediately from nature and what comes
from opinion”.11 So, according to the traditional view of amour-propre, Rousseau's educational
goal in Emile is to bring about a restoration to amour de soi. In this interpretation, if one is just
motivated by amour de soi in society, his needs won't outweigh his abilities, and he'll be
independent, unrestricted, and content, just like he was in the state of nature.

The Wide View of Amour Propre

10
Rousseau, Jean-Jacques, and Barbara Foxley. Emile, or on Education. e~artnow, 2019.
11
Ibid, p.68

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 In the traditional view of amour-propre, Rousseau holds the belief that amour propre is
always negative, i.e., the desire to be superior to others, and that it follows from this belief that
Rousseau's educational goal in Emile is to revert back to amour de soi. If this interpretation is
accurate, Rousseau is an inconsistent and illogical author because he claims in Rousseau juge de
Jean-Jacques that:

Human nature does not go backward, and it is never possible to return to the times of
innocence and equality once they have been left behind. This too is one of the principles
on which he has most insisted. So that his object could not be to bring populous peoples
or great States back to their first simplicity, but only to stop, if it were possible, the
progress of those whose small size and situation have preserved from such a swift
advance toward the perfection of society and the deterioration of the species. These
distinctions deserved to be made and were not. He was stubbornly accused of wanting to
destroy the sciences, the Arts, the theaters, the Academies and to plunge the universe
back into its first barbarism; and on the contrary he always insisted on the preservation
of existing institutions, holding that their destruction would only move the palliatives
while leaving the vices and substituting brigandage for corruption12

In this passage, Rousseau claims that he never argued for a return to humanity's primitive
state, preferring to insist that the problems with current institutions can only be resolved inside
those institutions. In light of this, if we accept Rousseau's reading of himself, we must reevaluate
the traditional view of amour-propre, which holds that when men enter society, amour-propre is
inevitably inflamed. The critics of the traditional view of amour-propre offer a fresh
interpretation that seeks to present Rousseau's writings as a unified and consistent totality.

According to Dent's interpretation of Rousseau, the concept of amour-propre has a

significant impact on illuminating human psychology and influencing the way the world is
today—a world where domination and subordination, mastery and subjection are prevalent. He
contends that Rousseau's goal is to combat "the nightmarish version of man and society," and in

12
Rousseau, Jean Jacques. Rousseau Juge. Genève, 1782.

13
order to do this, citizens must respect one another's equality and fully participate in a
community's legislative processes. But what constitutes the psychological foundations of an
equal society? It is hard to achieve the ideal of equality and respect for all if one's primary
motivation in society is just a desire for distinction. Dent contends that there must exist in the
human psyche a positive type of amour-propre that facilitates the ideal of equality and respect for
all.
Dent acknowledges that in his early writings, Rousseau emphasizes the negative aspect of
amour-propre. Rousseau critiques people's high achievements in the arts and sciences in the
Discourse on the Sciences and Arts because he believes they are mostly driven by their desire for
distinction and reputation rather than their love for truth. He claims in the Discourse on the
Origin of Inequality that amour-propre, or the yearning for recognition and affirmation from
others, is an artificial feeling that people experience when they enter society. But for the society
Rousseau envisions in The Social Contract, amour-propre must also take on a positive shape that
serves as its psychological foundation. This form of amour-propre is most explicit in Book IV of
Emile, where Rousseau says:

Since my Emile has until now looked only at himself, the first glance he casts on his
fellows leads him to compare himself with them. And the first sentiment aroused in him by
this comparison is the desire to be in the first position. This is the point where love of self
turns into amour-propre and where begin to arise all the passions which depend on this
one. But to decide whether among these passions the dominant ones in his character will
be humane and gentle or cruel and malignant, envy and covetousness, we must know
what position he will feel he has among men, and what kinds of obstacles he may believe
he has to overcome to reach the position he wants to occupy13

According to Dent, this means that the need for amour-propre might be satisfied if we are
aware of our place among men, which is one of equality and mutual respect. In other words, if
we are aware of our equality with others, our desire to possess or be perceived as having such an
equality with them can be satisfied. The satisfaction of my amour-propre does not have to
conflict with yours since I do not need to rule over you to do it; rather, the fulfillment of my
13
Rousseau, Jean-Jacques, and Barbara Foxley. Emile, or on Education. e~artnow, 2019.

14
amour-propre necessitates the fulfillment of yours. So, for me to want to have equal status with
you, I must accept that you have equal status with me. In this way, respect for oneself and respect
for others go hand in hand. In other words, one must accept that others are on an equal footing
with themselves if one wants to gain human acknowledgment and respect for themselves. Dent
contends that Rousseau's Social Contract depicts a society in which everyone is acknowledged to
have equal standing, or citizenship. As a result, the equality that is provided to everyone in such
a society satisfies an individual's amour propre, opening the door to the potential of a society that
values and respects one another.

For two reasons, Rawls agrees with Dent's view of amour-propre. He first claims that
Kant likewise sees the amour-propre of Rousseau as having a positive shape, quoting Kant as
saying:

The predisposition to humanity can be brought under the general title of self-love which
is physical and yet compares… that is to say, we judge ourselves happy or unhappy only
by making comparisons with others. Out of this self-love springs the inclination to
acquire worth in the opinion of others. This is originally a desire merely for equality, to
allow no one superiority above oneself, bound up with a constant care lest others strive
to obtain such superiority; but from this arises gradually the unjustifiable craving to win
it for oneself over others.14

Here, Kant characterizes Rousseau's amour-propre as "a yearning only for equality" and
"the impulse to acquire worth in the eyes of others." Rawls claims that he can only fully
comprehend Rousseau's second Discourse thanks to Kant's interpretation of amour-propre. The
second justification offered by Rawls is similar to Dent's in that it holds that in order to
comprehend Rousseau's writings as coherent and consistent, a wide view of amour-propre is
required. What psychological foundations exist for the political society that is portrayed in the
Social Contract if amour-propre is only a manufactured desire to be better than others? The
political system portrayed in the Social Contract is entirely utopian, and Rousseau's works are

14
Immanuel Kant, Religion within the Limits of Reason Alone, trans. Theodore M. Greene and Hoyt H.
Hudson (La Shalle, II: Open Court, 1934), bk.1, sec. 1

15
generally pessimistic, if there is no psychological force driving individuals to create that form of
society. So, according to Rawls, if we accept that Rousseau was a coherent and consistent author,
we ought to acknowledge that amour-propre has a positive form.

Cohen then concurs that Rousseau cannot address the motivation problem, i.e., to define
what motivates one to adhere to the general will, if amour-propre is just a desire to be superior to
others. He contends that the natural form of amour-propre, or "a concern that they validate my
worth," offers one solution to the motivation issue. This type of amour-propre is normal because
when I build relationships with other people and integrate into society, my sense of self-worth
and my love for myself naturally expand to include a need for other people to validate that value.
Cohen contends that amour-propre in its purest form can be interpreted as a concern that others
value me as I value myself. This interpretation of amour-propre, Cohen says, is supported by
Rousseau, who says: “This is, then, the summary of the whole human wisdom in the use of the
passions: (1) To have a sense of the true relations of man, with respect to the species as well as
the individual. (2) To order all the affections of the soul according to these relations”15. Here,
Rousseau states that there are "the true relations of man" with regard to "the species as well as
the individual'' in contrast to the false relationships of man, such as competition and rivalry.
What is man's true relationship? In a later passage, Rousseau writes, "Man is the same in all
stations. If that is so, the stations having the most members merit the most respect. To the man
who thinks, all the civil distinctions disappear. He sees the same passions, the same sentiments in
the hod carrier and the illustrious man" By being seen as having a natural form, amour-propre
captures the genuine relationships between men, i.e., their equal positions. If properly
understood, amour-propre should have a natural or positive form, i.e., the desire for respect from
others or the desire to possess or be perceived as having equal standing with others.

Additionally, Neuhouser contends that amour-propre has both a negative and a positive
form. On the one hand, he agrees with Dent, Rawls, and Cohen that if amour-propre only has a
negative form, it is impossible for the various evils diagnosed in the Second Discourse to be
remedied. Neuhouser also offers a different interpretation for Note XV in the Second Discourse
to commentators who take Rousseau to be suggesting that amour-propre is exclusively negative.

15
Rousseau, Jean-Jacques, and Barbara Foxley. Emile, or on Education. e~artnow, 2019.

16
As Rousseau says in Note XV:

Amour propre (vanity) and Amour de soi-même (self-love), two very different passions in
their nature and their effects, should not be confused. Self-love is a natural sentiment
which inclines every animal to attend to its self-preservation and which, guided in man by
reason and modified by pity, produces humanity and virtue. Amour propre is only a
relative sentiment, factitious, and born in society, which inclines every individual to set
greater store by himself than by anyone else, inspires men with all the evils they do one
another, and is the genuine source of honor.16

The distinction between amour de soi and amour-propre is frequently cited by

commentators as proof in favor of the traditional view of amour-propre. However, as Neuhouser
notes, Rousseau does not intend to imply that amour-propre is the cause of all evils regardless of
its manifestations, but rather that when amour-propre is occasioned by specific circumstances,
such as leisure, luxury, division of labor, etc., it is the cause of all the evils. Rousseau does not
mean to imply that the tendency to "set greater store by himself than by anyone else" is the
necessary consequence of amour-propre. As Neuhousers reading suggests, Rousseau is
misunderstood in the conventional interpretation of amour-propre. According to the quote, "the
ardent desire to raise one’s relative fortune less out of genuine need than in order to place oneself
above others, instills in all men a black inclination to harm one another," all men have a tendency
to hurt other people when amour-propre is inflamed. Furthermore, Rousseau indicates that
amour-propre is likely to be insatiable but will not necessarily be so when he argues
hyperbolically that "amour-propre, which makes comparisons, is never content and never could
be."
To conclude, amour propre has a traditional interpretation which is the self-interested
desire that is concerned with relative success or failure as a social person. This notion heavily
manifests itself in the modern age through social media, which could be found in the different
surveys as I have mentioned earlier. Rousseau’s notion of amour propre is also nuanced, having

16
Rousseau, Jean-Jacques, Julia Conaway Bondanella, and Frederick Neuhouser. Discourse on the Origin
of Inequality. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2022.

17
another interpretation aside from the traditional which claims that the notion is purely negative.
Several other thinkers such as John Rawls, Nicholas Dent, Frederick Neuhouser and Joshua
Cohen argue that amour propre has a positive form, which is necessary in order to accept
Rousseau as being a coherent writer. Now that I have provided the two main perspectives
concerning amour propre, I will prove why the wide view is the better interpretation which
would then be the basis of my analysis on how amour propre manifests itself in social media.

Chapter 2: Why the Traditional View Fails and Why the Wide View Succeeds

A Defense for the Traditional View of Amour-propre

As I mentioned above, those who deny the traditional view of amour-propre, such as Dent,
Rawls, Cohen, and Neuhouser, contend that the concept has a positive form because the
traditional interpretation conflicts with Rousseau's writings as a whole. However, defenders of
the traditional interpretation of amour-propre could argue that Rousseau's Emile gives support
to the traditional interpretation. For instance, in Allan Bloom's introduction to Emile,
amour-propre, a "cornerstone of Rousseau's psychological teaching,”17 is described as the root
of all evils, including "anger, pride, vanity, resentment, revenge, jealousy, indignation,
competition, slavishness, humility, capriciousness, and rebelliousness". The purpose of
Rousseau's negative education, according to Bloom, is to "avoid amour de soi from changing
into amour-propre, for this is the true source of man's dividedness," and government and law
are required to do this. Therefore, amour propre is not actually the psychological foundation of
society as portrayed in the Social Contract, but rather the root of inequality and human evils,
assuming Bloom's reading is true.

17
Bloom, Allan. “The Education of Democratic Man: Emile.” Daedalus 107, no. 3 (1978): 135–53.
http://www.jstor.org/stable/20024568.

18
 If amour-propre is not the psychological foundation of the society outlined in the Social
Contract, then what is it? If amour-propre lacks a positive form, is Rousseau's project in the
Discourse on the Origin of Inequality compatible with his project in the Social Contract?
Bloom seems to imply that if we consider Rousseau's concepts of compassion, we can find
solutions to these issues. He suggests that in contrast to amour-propre, compassion is a basic
human emotion, and that Rousseau believed that compassion, not amour propre, is what
enables a society of respect and esteem for one another. He claims:

The recognition of our sameness and our common vulnerability dampens the harsh
competitiveness and egotism of egalitarian political orders. Rousseau takes advantage of the
tendency to compassion resulting from equality, and uses it, rather than self-interest, as the
glue binding men together. 18

The purpose of Emile’s education, Bloom argues, is to let Emile realize the miseries of
human kind and nurture his feelings of compassion. The first level of Emile’s education in
compassion is to let Emile study arts instead of science. This study will enable Emile to despise
the vanity of Plutarch’s heroes and pity their unfortunate ends. The second level is to study
Robinson Crusoe’s island and to produce “contempt for the great of this world, not a slave’s
contempt founded in envy, indignation, and resentment, but the contempt stemming from a
conviction of superiority which admits of honest fellow feeling and is the precondition of
compassion”. The third level of education is to study fables and satires, which make Emile
identify himself with the sufferers and have a feeling of compassion toward human beings. If
the education is successful, he suggests, Emile’s compassion, together with his desire for self
preservation, becomes his principle of action, according to which, “concern for others becomes
part of his sense of his own interest”

If Bloom's interpretation—that is, the notion that sympathy or pity, rather than the positive
form of amour-propre, serves as the psychological foundation of the political society portrayed
in the Social Contract—is correct, it may not be wrong to state that amour-propre is always
negative. But as I'll make the case in a moment, in agreement with Dent, Rawls, Cohen, and
Neuhouser, the classic interpretation of amour-propre misses the mark in attempting to

18
Ibid, p.19

19
comprehend Rousseau's writings as a whole. This indicates that the psychological basis of the
political society of equality and mutual respect cannot be compassion. Rousseau's political
society of equality and mutual respect is actually just a utopia, and his political philosophy is
pessimistic, if the natural emotion of compassion is the foundation of morality in his view. As
Rawls notes, this interpretation renders Rousseau's main ideas inconsistent and ineffective,
making his works incoherent as a whole.

My Defense of the Wide View of Amour-propre

According to Bloom, the psychological foundation of the society envisioned in the Social
Contract can be compassion. But Rousseau never asserts that a just society is built on
compassion. Instead, amour de soi, according to Rousseau, is what drives people in nature. And
in the civil state, amour-propre serves as the main driving force. In other words, the main driving
factor in both the natural state and the civil state is love or respect for oneself.

This is not to imply that compassion has no place in either the state of nature or the state of
civilized society. Compassion is one of the guiding principles of behavior and a factor in why
people are naturally good in nature. Compassion is crucial in the civil state in preventing
amour-propre from being inflamed. But as we shall see, neither the state of nature nor the civil
state are driven primarily by compassion.

The Role of Compassion vs the Role of Self-love/Self-esteem in the Second Discourse

According to Rousseau's definition in the Discourse on the Origin of Inequality, compassion

is "a natural repugnance to seeing any sentient Being, and especially any being like ourselves,
perish or suffer,"19. The two guiding principles of behavior in nature and the basis of natural
rights are the drive for self-preservation (amour de soi) and the emotion of compassion.
However, amour de soi has greater motivational power than compassion (self-love or
self-esteem). As Rousseau claims :
19
Rousseau, Jean-Jacques, Julia Conaway Bondanella, and Frederick Neuhouser. Discourse on the Origin
of Inequality. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2022.

20
 As long as he does not resist the inner impulsion of commiseration, he will never
harm another man or even any sentient being, except in the legitimate case when, his
preservation being involved, he is obliged to give himself preference. 20

Here, Rousseau makes it clear that when compassion and the want to protect oneself are
in harmony, man will be motivated to avoid harming other creatures, especially other humans;
yet, when compassion and the urge to protect oneself are at odds, man will prioritize protecting
himself. Later on in the same Discourse, he challenges Hobbes' natural philosophy and makes
the following claims:

By reasoning on the basis of the principles he establishes, this Author [Hobbes]

should have said that, since the state of Nature is the state in which the care for our own
preservation is least prejudicial to the self-preservation of others, it follows that this state
was the most conducive to Peace and the best suited to Mankind. 21

Here, Rousseau makes it clear that he agrees with Hobbes that amour de soi (self-love
or self-esteem), particularly the need for self-preservation, is the fundamental motivator of
behavior in the state of nature. He contends, however, that in the state of nature, one's concern
for self-preservation is rarely in conflict with the self-preservation of others, in contrast to
Hobbes' claim that this principle necessarily results in conflicts of interests and a state of war
between one and all. The state of nature is one of calm because of this. According to
Rousseau, men in their natural state lack moral sense and are unaware of vices.Therefore, it is
unlikely that men are innately evil in the state of nature, as Hobbes claims. When one's need
for self-preservation is met, he or she does not care whether others are wealthier than him or
her. As a result, one's need for self-preservation rarely interferes with the needs of others.
However, once he enters society, he develops amour-propre, a sense of self-love or
self-esteem that is reliant on the opinions of others. In certain situations, this relative

20
Ibid, p.127
21
Ibid, p.151

21
sensation of self-love or self-esteem may become inflamed. Everyone pursues social benefits
and superiority when he is driven by the inflamed amour-propre, and as a result, the civil state
is a state of war. Compassion is powerless to overcome inflamed amour-propre in a state of
conflict. This weakness of compassion is vividly presented by Rousseau, as he states: "One of
his kind can with impunity be murdered beneath his window; he only has to put his hands
over his ears and to argue a little with himself to prevent Nature, which rebels within him,
from letting him identify with the man being assassinated." Rousseau explicitly states that
compassion is "developed but weak in Civil man."22 He then contends that this heightened
amour-propre "made mankind hungry, ambitious, and vicious"23 by stifling natural pity.
Therefore, the main driving factor in both the natural state and the civil state is self-love or
self-esteem rather than compassion.

The Role of Compassion vs the Role of Self-love/Self-esteem in Emile

In Emile, the significance of amour de soi is made explicitly clear when Rousseau makes
the case that the goal of the early phases of moral education is to fulfill the child's self-love or
self-esteem (amour de soi) and release him from the shackles of inflamed amour-propre. As
we've already explored, the moral education for children in Book I aims to help or complement
a person's ability to meet their basic requirements and restrain their desires within their capacity.
As a result, amour de soi, or the desire to preserve oneself, serves as the main driving factor
during this stage. In Book II, the goal of moral education is to liberate the child from the
shackles of the negative type of amour-propre and to instill a love of freedom in their hearts. The
primary idea of this stage, according to Rousseau, is that "the truly freeman wants only what he
can do and does what he pleases."24 According to Book III, the goal of the adolescent stage of
moral development is to teach practical knowledge that helps one's well-being, which is made
up of "health, freedom, and the necessities of life,"25 such as mathematics, geography,
astronomy, physics, social studies, and carpentry. Thus, before Emile enters society, education in
a corrupted society like the one he lives in serves to satisfy his amour de soi, or love of oneself,

22
Ibid, p.153
23
Ibid, p.171
24
Rousseau, Jean-Jacques, and Barbara Foxley. Emile, or on Education. e~artnow, 2019.
25
Ibid, p.177

22
which consists of the desire for self-preservation and concern for one's own well-being, as well
as liberating one from the enslavement of the inflamed amour-propre. The first three phases of
moral development barely involve sympathy.

Rousseau discusses Emile's adulthood in Book IV of Emile. As a person enters society

and establishes relationships with other people. His amour de soi transforms into amour propre.
As Rousseau notes:
The sole passion natural to man is amour de soi or amour-propre taken in an
extended sense. This amour-propre in itself or relative to us is good and useful;
and since it has no necessary relation to others, it is in this respect naturally
neutral. It becomes good or bad only by the application made of it and the
relations given to it. Therefore, up to the time when the guide of amour-propre,
which is reason, can be born, it is important for a child to do nothing because
he is seen or heard-nothing, in a word, in relation to others; he must respond
only to what nature asks of him, and then he will do nothing but good. 26

Here Rousseau explicitly says that amour-propre in its natural form is good and useful.
He summarizes the principle of education in the earlier stages of moral development as negative
education, that is, “to do nothing.” He also suggests that the purpose of education in the adult
stage of moral development is to guide amour-propre with reason. The role of reason can vary
for Rousseau. He also states that it is possible to see why someone who had neither desires nor
anxieties would bother to reason. As Rousseau claims in the second Discourse: "We strive to
know only because we desire to enjoy."27 However, he also makes the following claim that:
"Self-love is a natural sentiment which encourages every animal to attend to its self-preservation
and which, directed in man by reason and modified by compassion, develops humanity and
morality."28 According to some analysts, Rousseau is a sentimentalist who seeks to deny "the

26
Ibid, p.93
27
Rousseau, Jean-Jacques, Julia Conaway Bondanella, and Frederick Neuhouser. Discourse on the Origin
of Inequality. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2022.
28
Ibid, p.218

23
Platonic system that elevates reason above feeling." However, this view disregards the power
Rousseau attributes to reason. Understood properly, there are two types of reasons for Rousseau,
the ends-in-itself reason and the means-ends reason. The achievement of a person's desires is
facilitated by the first type of reason. A person's animal urges may be guided by the second type
of reason. According to Rousseau, the second type of reason explains why people are
autonomous beings since "obedience to the law one has set for oneself is freedom, and the
impulsion of mere appetite is slavery."29 Emile's education must therefore focus on preparing
him to be an independent individual whose reason directs his amour-propre toward a healthy
and natural shape. It is interesting to examine how amour-propre is guided by reason into a
natural form. Niko Kolodny explains as follows:

If amour-propre is inflamed by the illusion that one’s value depends on one’s

social advantage, then healthy amour-propre would seem to lie in
independent knowledge of one’s true value, as consisting in something other
than social advantage.30

Kolodny accurately asserts that knowing one's genuine worth apart from one's social
advantage is a prerequisite for the natural or healthy type of amour-propre. However, the natural
or healthy form of amour-propre, which Kolodny defines as “A desire to have, and to be assessed
by all others as having a particular value in comparison to all others, including at least moral
equality,”31 does not adequately explain amour propre. Even though a person is aware that his
genuine worth is unrelated to his social standing, he will nonetheless strive to have social
advantage and to be regarded as such by everyone else if he believes that others believe the
opposite. This claim pertains to Rousseau's description of amour-propre as a conditional
sentiment that depends on the opinions of others, whether it be natural or inflamed. So, 1)
knowing that one's genuine value is independent of one's social advantage, and 2) knowing that
others recognize that one's true value is independent of one's social advantage, are prerequisites
for the healthy or natural version of amour-propre. These two circumstances, however, only

29
ROUSSEAU, JEAN-JACQUES. Social Contract. S.l.: 1828 PR, 2022.
30
Kolodny, Niko. “The Explanation of Amour-Propre.” The Philosophical Review 119, no. 2 (2010):
165–200. https://doi.org/10.1215/00318108-2009-036.
31
Ibid, p.170

24
explain why one's amour-propre is not inflamed and not why one's amour-propre is natural or
healthy, therefore they are insufficient to describe the healthy or natural form of amour-propre.
Knowing where the natural or healthy amour-propre lies is equivalent to knowing what is good
and useful, as Rousseau claims: "This amour-propre in itself or relative to us is good and useful."
Freedom is the most important thing for humans, as Rousseau notes:

The only one who does his own will is he who, in order to do it, has no need to
put another’s arms at the end of his own; from which it follows that the first of
all goods is not authority but freedom. The truly freeman wants only what he can
do and does what he pleases. That is my fundamental maxim. 32

It is therefore evident that Rousseau believes that the natural or healthy form of
amour-propre lies in the following: (1) the knowledge that one’s true value is independent of
one’s social advantage; (2) the knowledge that others know that one’s true value is independent
of one’s social advantage; and (3) the knowledge that one’s true value, i.e., the utmost value of
all values, is freedom (and equality); and (4) the knowledge that others know that one’s true
value is freedom and equality. Therefore, when properly understood, the desire for liberty and
equality constitutes the natural or healthy form of amour-propre.

My main argument—that compassion cannot provide the psychological foundation for

the kind of political society envisioned by the Social Contract—is supported by the argument
above. Because it makes it possible for the psychological foundation of the political society of
equality and mutual respect to be the natural form of amour-propre. Emile recognizes that one's
actual value is freedom and equality, not social benefit, therefore if one is properly educated like
Emile, he will have a sort of amour-propre in its natural form. In order for Emile and his
companions to understand that one's actual value is freedom, he must live among the others and
"cultivate their friendship in sweet association, be their benefactor and their model"33. People

32
Rousseau, Jean-Jacques, and Barbara Foxley. Emile, or on Education. e~artnow, 2019.
33
Ibid, p.474

25
will experience amour-propre in its purest form once they realize that freedom (and equality) are
the fundamental values. But it is impossible for Emile and his people to develop a strong feeling
of amour-propre in a corrupted culture like the one they live in.

People will inevitably exhibit an inflamed form of amour-propre in a corrupted society

because it is widely acknowledged that some people are inferior to others. Those with
advantages will try to lower others' self-esteem in order to boost their own. And those who are
less fortunate will trade their independence for social advantages with others. But because Emile
and his countrymen understand that their actual worth lies in freedom and equality, they will not
have an inflamed type of amour-propre. However, they will not have a strong sense of
amour-propre in its natural and healthy form because they are aware that it is not widely known
in the corrupted society that a person's actual value is found in freedom and equality.

To conclude, amour-propre has a positive and a negative aspect. This interpretation of

amour-propre enables us to perceive Rousseau's writings as a unified body of consistent ideas.
As we have seen in the second Discourse and Emile , the psychological foundation of the
political society portrayed in the Social Contract is amour-propre in its purest form, which is the
longing for liberty and equality.

With this interpretation of amour propre, we may now evaluate social media.

Chapter 3: How Amour Propre Manifests in Social Media

Rousseau’s notion of amour propre, or the self-love that depends upon the opinion of
others, becomes a relevant social concept today. With the construction of self and peer evaluation
in social media, this term acquires renewed relevance in contemporary consciousness.

The idea of self-love, or amour propre, has recently attracted new attention due to a

26
variety of online phenomena. The "narcissistic turn"34 in digital culture, which is mediated via
interactive platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, places a significant focus on
self-representation and self-construction. Online avatarism was perceived as a sign of a new kind
of emancipation in which we might abandon and manufacture identities and even refrain from
disclosing our true selves to others. The rise of social media, especially social networking sites,
and growing reliance on profile building and sharing as social capital have brought the self into
focus in identity construction. It now becomes a component of a larger consumption and
exchange economy wherein how we see ourselves in this digital culture is significantly
influenced by the gaze of others. As I have discussed earlier, amour propre has a positive form
which may be satiated through equality of the self to others. A positive amour propre is satisfied
when others’ amour propre are also satisfied, and because the notion is emphasized in social
media, it is important we do not view this digital culture as an event that causes nothing but
narcissism. The digital culture’s effect of construction and presentation of self online and
validation by others therefore needs a review of its positive elements, and the ethics of
constructing ourselves through the gaze and endorsement of others in our contemporary digital
culture.

How Social Media Enables Amour Propre to be Inflamed

This section explores the complexity of social media's digital economy and how it fosters
the manifestation of narcissism and other harmful habits, hence inflaming amour propre. How
we create our online identities and how they are entangled with other people's gaze serve as
examples of how amour propre is used in the online and social media landscape. One's online
identity is greatly influenced by social networking sites and profile development, where one's
sense of self is molded by peer approval and gaze. As such, it's essential to consider that the
online economy is a form of public spectacle. Because we are continuously observing others and
aware that others are watching us in this economy of public spectacle, we are unable to exist

34
Ibrahim, Yasmin. “Social Networking Sites (SNS) and the ‘Narcissistic Turn'.” Collaborative
Technologies and Applications for Interactive Information Design, 2010, 82–95.
https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-60566-727-0.ch006.

27
online as independent beings. The online economy of consumption, reciprocity, and gaze
significantly contributes to giving our presence and profile a social value because it allows us to
represent ourselves. Our amour propre (love of oneself) and other people's gaze and perceptions
of us are what shape the intricate politics of self-identity that exist online.

We may now perform identities online. Technology, social conventions, culture, and our
psychological states all play a role in the politics of identity construction online. We are aware
that online digital cultures places a strong emphasis on self-presentation and identity. The ability
to manipulate one's own identity and interact with online peer communities is made possible by
the online environment. Self-representation can occur through our online communication styles
and social interactions. The idea of oneself can be intertwined with networks, especially social
networking sites, which are integrated with daily communication and sharing of ourselves;
embracing the incidental, the routine, and the eventful moments with others. As a result, in the
digital economy, where we can act out our identities, join a group, and nevertheless stand out
thanks to our distinctive online presence—whether through our profile or through our
interactions with others—the idea of amour propre obtains a renewed relevance. Having said
that, digital culture gives us a palpable sense that people are continuously seeing and assessing
us.

Today, millions of people vanity search online, making it a significant online activity
known as "ego-surfing" or "self-googling.". A Pew survey conducted in April and May of 2013
showed A search engine was used by 56 percent of American Internet users to look up their own
name to see what information was accessible online about them; this represented a 22 percent
increase in vanity searching from 200135. Those under the age of 50 are more prone than older
adults to monitor their digital footprints, as is the case with many reputation-related online
activities, while individuals with greater levels of education and household wealth are more
likely to self-search (especially those whose occupations typically demand monitoring online

35
Author, No. “Reputation Management and Social Media.” Pew Research Center: Internet, Science &
Tech. Pew Research Center, August 17, 2020.
https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2010/05/26/reputation-management-and-social-media/.

28
reputations)36. Similar to this, a research of people's motivations and uses for Facebook finds that
individuals use it mostly as a tool for self-presentation and to keep track of what their contacts
and friends are up to.

The digital economy offers the publicness where a collective gaze can fall and where the
self can be played, encouraging affirmation from others while enabling hostility. Rousseau spoke
of the village festivals as a chance to display talent and express one's originality. The necessity to
continually control one's online presence has made it possible for a variety of behaviors related
to ideas of vanity, narcissism, and self-representation to arise. An intensive focus on impression
management online has also resulted from ongoing efforts to display oneself favorably. With the
advent of social networking sites and its emphasis on constructing profiles, numerous studies
were done on the ‘narcissistic turn’ online and equally the digital platform as a space for personal
identity construction. Bergman et al. contends that motivations for using social networking sites
by millennials is often guided by narcissism such as having as many friends on social networking
sites (SNS) as possible, desiring their SNS friends to be aware of what they were doing,
possessing positive SNS profiles, and thinking their SNS friends were interested in what they
were doing.

Social scientists have long maintained that creating one's own identity involves managing
impressions during social interactions and taking into account other people's perceptions. Peers
provide the most important information for the self-presentation of potential selves during
emerging adulthood. When emerging adults engage in peer relationships, they are demonstrating
who they are to one another, trying out different parts of their identities, receiving confirmation
or rejection of their self-concepts from others, and progressing towards identity consolidation in
the process37. The online platforms are spaces where there is a consciousness that will be
consumed and endorsed through a peer economy. Social networking sites emphasize a profile
culture and equally the notion of social sharing of private information with peer communities
(and beyond). In these sites, peer assessment of us, and our self-presentations have vital
importance. Amour propre thus manifests through profile building and equally through our

36
Ibid
37
Ibid, p. 25

29
public interactions where these are subject to the external gaze.

This makes Rousseau's idea of a comparison economy evident, made possible by

technology that link individuals through networking platforms. Technologies enable us to
endorse and look up individuals, and similar technological features enable us to follow or "like"
one another. Both verbal and nonverbal cues contribute to this evaluation economy. We have
several means to consume one another and to equally praise or criticize one another, including
searching, tagging, liking, re-posting, and re-tweeting. Peer groups and friends that interact with
one another through social networking sites create a community that is bonded by other's
mundane and exciting daily experiences. In the current digital age, Rousseau's comparative
economy is inevitable, which causes the idea of our sense of self to arise and form through other
people's assessments of us. Online spaces are a reality for self-representation and the
consumption of the self as a commodity by others since they serve as platforms for user
generated material. Your possible audience can include both the group of your peers and an
unidentified stranger. As a result, the creation of the virtual self is linked to online reputation
management, giving Rousseau's amour propre a significance in the digital age.

The Potential of Positive Amour Propre in Social Media

Our commitment to a peer economy raises a number of problems in our digital culture.
As a result, it is impossible to live in a vacuum in either an offline or online setting, hence, a
positive form of amour propre must rely on our observation of others' assessments and
evaluations while using it to evaluate one's own moral self. In today's digital world, Rousseau's
ideas of amour propre and peer validation undoubtedly take on new meaning. As a result,
self-love online can be practiced through a variety of interactions, and we can also gauge the
interest and affirmation from our peers through these regular encounters. What Rousseau did not
consider in his works is the notion of several identities in people's lives. The politics of identity
creation are far more intricate, and in the current economic climate, there are many opportunities

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to project oneself online. As was already established, Rousseau's amour propre has the potential
to be positive. In a variety of social contexts and conditions, the notion can produce favorable
results. However, it should be noted that self-love can also be pledged to a virtuous self, and
thus, self-presentation online can be the basis for the presentation of an authentic self based on
these virtues. It is also important to note that one cannot dismiss its damaging and disastrous
effects in terms of identity politics online where it yields deviant behaviors like cyber bullying
and grooming (which have prompted agony, self-harm, and suicides).

One can contend that Rousseau's self-love can result in a more beneficial society, if this
self online is tied to a good and moral self. Peers can thus provide a type of moral scrutiny where
we can evaluate one another and examine our own actions. When a community or society is
faced with trauma or crises that call for moral responses to those who are suffering, this peer
economy can be a component of a larger moral community keeping each other in check, whether
online or offline. In demonstrating how self-love may foster the virtues of pity and empathy for
less fortunate people, Rousseau gives an example of how the social self can play a crucial role as
a member of a larger society. When a society is faced with a catastrophe or disaster, this becomes
more important to the politics of compassion online. In digital cultures, how one presents
themselves online has a big impact on broader political and social issues, like one's capacity to
interact with difficult issues and express sympathy for and solidarity with others. Because our
internet transactions are public, we must react morally to catastrophic occurrences and natural
disasters. This open act of sympathy and group support includes both self-representation and
peer judgments. A crucial aspect of contemporary, technologically mediated society is the
ongoing promotion of social solidarity and politics of pity, which serves to morally validate one
another as fellow humans and equals.

Dent points out the application of Rousseau's idea of "natural pity" to how people esteem
one another. When a normal man truly comprehends the suffering of another, a similar process of
identification takes place. Due to shared experiences of being injured or in pain, the sentiments
of suffering are highly familiar. As a result, they are more capable in identifying others'
sentiments and giving them a spontaneous, sympathetic response. Natural man empathically

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shares the individual's sorrow and tries to help by easing the discomfort as if the suffering were
his own. The virtuous self is continuously put to the test in online spaces as a result of the
opportunities provided by today's digital cultures for empathizing with the pain of others, acting
with pity, and denouncing immoral behavior. Due to the Internet's well-documented capacity for
fostering community, expressing pain, and remembering tragic events, amour propre is
intricately connected to both online virtue-signaling and behaving with sympathy for the less
fortunate.

Conclusion:

It is very easy subscribe to the idea that amour propre is wholly negative as rousseau's writings
mostly portray the notion to be

an illness born from society, and as humanity progressed, we reached the point where we are the
most connected compared to the entirety of our history

as a direct result of social media. But further analysis of his works, as suggested by several
thinkers, reveal that Amour Propre is not a disease

that should be cured. Yes it is an inevitable consequence of society that may lead to its downfall,
but at the same time it promises its redemption

when proprely cultivated. This brings forth a positive version of Amour Propre that we could
also observe through social media, and in the following chapters

we explore how this positive form of amour propre holds potential in achieving rousseau's idea
of a just society through the digital environment

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