Rousseau’s Conception of Interest in His Essay on the Theatrical Arts

The concept of interest―i.e., the desire to learn―is important for school education. It is not easy, however, to trace the etymology of the word “interest”. The various connotations of “interest” include not only selfishness, personal interest, advantage, benefit, involvement in an undertaking, legal concern, excitement of the curiosity, and pursuit of an advantage, but also disinterest and interesse. The sense of “interesting” as a desire to learn arose in the 18th century.The aim of this article is to explicate the conception of interest (int?r?t) in Rousseau’s essay on the theatrical arts, Lettre? d’Alembert (published in 1758), taking into account the discussion of the aesthetic values of interest in those days. The framework of Rousseau’s argument is formed of the concepts of reflection, semblable, and instruction.