By the time we get to Rousseau and Kant, the Enlightenment is well on its way to symbolizing the post-Latin Age Europe.  Each pointed to some aspect of past debates on Original Sin.

Rousseau proposed a substitute to Fall itself.  What went wrong?  He identified the Fall as the adoption of the cultural value of “private property” at the start of Civilization.

Kant proposed an ethical substitute for Sanctifying Grace.  The categorical imperative relied on Reason and stated that “you should act as if ‘the maxim from which you act’ were to become, through your will, universal law.” (At the same time, Kant’s categorical imperative justified Resistance).

From the previous blog, I can put each into a box.

Rousseau proposed an anthropology.  (The Anthropology belongs to the same category as the imagination, since one can imagine this pre-civilized condition but one has never encountered it.)

Kant proposed a Doctrine of Reason and Resistance.  (For Reason, consider the actor not committing an act, such as jaywalking, because, if jaywalking became a universal law, many people would get injured.  For Resistance, consider the actor adopting a cause, such as “not owning private property”, then forcing that stance on others, because it is consistent with the maxim that this “act” should become universal law.)