Pytania o wartość. Ekonomiczne uwikłania jednostki i języka w Wyznaniach Jeana-Jacques’a Rousseau

Abstract

This article discusses the multiple ways in which the Confessions by Jean-Jacques Rousseau evokes finances, income, loss, and the worth of money itself. Born in the lower class, Rousseau vividly portrays the struggles caused by the 18th-century economy, which became one of the most important topics in his oeuvre. He treats money with intense ambivalence, accusing it of having a delinquent effect on society and each human being, while longing for a steady income with no need for work. On the other hand, he depicts money not as a measure of worth but as an empty sign that can be seen as a metaphor for the conventional nature of language. These observations pose questions how societies form their notion of worth and value.