(urth) (no subject)

[Jeff Wilson]

brunians at brunians.org wrote:
> Jeff Wilson writes:
> 
>>> How many children did Rousseau abandon? What was his justification for
>>> that again? How could anyone take such a moral criminal seriously?
> 
> Rousseau sent his infant children to an orphanage and did not check up on
> them. The death rate in 18th century French orphanages approached 100%.

Sources differ. Supposedly he did check up years later, but records were 
not well kept if at all. Infant mortality was upwards of 50% all-round 
in part due to elective wet nursing compounding the septic practices of 
the age - and against which he later spoke against, encouraging parents 
who did take such a moral criminal seriously to keep infants home and 
saving thousands of tiny lives.

>> Absolutely. Buddha,
> 
> Left his children in the care of his royally wealthy wife and parents.

The child he called one more chain to bind him down, and left in the 
grip of an absolute, slave-keeping tyrant, a situation he found 
intolerable, but he did have time to liberate his childhood chum.


-- 
Jeff Wilson - jwilson at io.com
< http://www.io.com/~jwilson >