Question

Read the passage from A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. . . . Rousseau became enamoured of solitude, and, being at the same time an optimist, he labours with uncommon eloquence to prove that man was naturally a solitary animal. Misled by his respect for the goodness of God, who certainly?—for what man of sense and feeling can doubt it!?—gave life only to communicate happiness, he considers evil as positive, and the work of man; not aware that he was exalting one attribute at the expense of another, equally necessary to divine perfection. Reared on a false hypothesis, his arguments in favour of a state of nature are plausible, but unsound. I say unsound; for to assert that a state of nature is preferable to civilization in all its possible perfection, is, in other words, to arraign supreme wisdom; and the paradoxical exclamation, that God has made all things right, and that evil has been introduced by the creature whom he formed, knowing what he formed, is as unphilosophical as impious. What is Wollstonecraft’s purpose in citing Rousseau’s theory?

Answer 1

Wollstonecraft’s purpose in citing Rousseau’s theory is to disprove his theory.

Answer 2

If the options are:
1) to applaud his theory
2) to disprove his theory
3) to agree with his theory
4) to elaborate on his theory

The correct answer is 2) to disprove his theory. It is obvious, both from her expressions such as "misled", "reared on a false hypothesis", "unsound", "unphilosophical", "impious". Rousseau held the view that women shouldn't receive an education, and Wollstonecraft argues with him and his philosophical views of the nature of humanity.