ge necessary to his
existence, and to the development of his faculties?

A. No; not without the assistance of his fellow men, and by living in
society.

Q. But is not society to man a state against nature?

A. No: it is on the contrary a necessity, a law that nature imposed
on him by the very act of his organization; for, first, nature has so
constituted man, that he cannot see his species of another sex without
feeling emotions and an attraction which induce him to live in a family,
which is already a state of society; secondly, by endowing him with
sensibility, she organized him so that the sensations of others reflect
within him, and excite reciprocal sentiments of pleasure and of grief,
which are attractions, and indissoluble ties of society; thirdly, and
finally, the state of society, founded on the wants of man, is only a
further means of fulfilling the law of preservation: and to pretend that
this state is out of nature, because it is more perfect, is the same
as to say, that a bitter and wild fruit of the forest, is no longer the
production of nature, when rendered sweet and delicious by cultivation
in our gardens.

Q. Why, then, have philosophers called the savage state the state of
perfection?

A. Because, as I have told you, the vulgar have often given the name of
philosophers to whimsical geniuses, who, from moroseness, from wounded
vanity, or from a disgust to the vices of society, have conceived
chimerical ideas of the savage state, in contradiction with their own
system of a perfect man.

Q. What is the true meaning of the word philosopher?

A. The word philosopher signifies a lover of wisdom; and as wisdom
consists in the practice of the laws of nature, the true philosopher is
he who knows those laws, and conforms the whole tenor of his conduct to
them.

Q. What is man in the savage state?

A. A brutal, ignorant animal, a wicked and ferocious beast.

Q. Is he happy in that state?

A. No; for he only feels momentary sensations, which are habitually of
violent wants which he cannot satisfy, since he is ignorant by nature,
and weak by being isolated from his race.

Q. Is he free?

A. No; he is the most abject slave that exists; for his life depends
on everything that surrounds him: he is not free to eat when hungry,
to rest when tired, to warm himself when cold; he is every instant in
danger of perishing; wherefore nature offers but fortuitous examples of
such beings; and we see that all t