The overvaluation of talent:: An interpretation and application of Rousseau's amour-propre

In this article, it is argued that amour-propre, as defined by Rousseau in the Second Discourse, is a specific criticism of the Enlightenment tendency to overvalue talent. In particular, I attempt to demonstrate that liberal societies committed to the merit system of distributive justice suffer from higher levels of amour-propre than other sorts of societies. Liberal societies, as a result, are prone to produce hyper self-conscious individuals who have difficulty identifying with their neighbors and establishing civic friendship.