Asked by ruth

Which of the Enlightenment thinkers would agree with the idea that people are naturally good, but bad governments can corrupt them?

Responses

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Voltaire

Voltaire

Emmerich de Vattel

Emmerich de Vattel

Montesquieu

Montesquieu

All Answers 1

Answered by GPT-5 mini AI
Jean-Jacques Rousseau.

He argued people are naturally good (the "noble savage") and that society — especially unequal or corrupt social/political institutions — corrupts human goodness (see Discourse on Inequality and The Social Contract).