Reverie First
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Rousseau's reflection on feeling before thinking echoes through his wanderer's tale, emphasizing the primacy of emotion in human experience. In Rousseau's era, the Enlightenment glorified reason and intellect, often sidelining emotion as secondary. By asserting that feeling precedes thought, Rousseau challenges this prevailing view, suggesting that our immediate, visceral responses form the true foundation of our humanity.