Analysis Of Jean-Jacques Rousseau's Social Contract

In the Social Contract, Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s key viewpoint is that all men are born free, but end up being in chains everywhere in the course of their lives (Rousseau and Cole 2 ). Rousseau argues that modern political states repress the basic freedoms which men possess as their birthright. These political states then lead men into the civil society in which the civil freedoms of men are not secure. Most importantly, Rousseau points out that the legitimacy of political authority can only be a product of social that all citizens agree upon motivated by the need for mutual preservation. Throughout the book, Rousseau makes key distinctions that make the basis of the discussions in this essay.
a. Social contract refers to the view that the
Rousseau explains the philosophical underpinnings of the social contract as well as its suitable form. The suitable form is the ‘sovereign’ which according to Rousseau is the collective description the people who mutually agree to enter into a civil society. The individuals may have different needs and opinions, but the sovereign, as a product of the social contract, expresses the common will and good for the entire
According to Rousseau, the civil society is what represses people’s freedom who argues that people’s freedoms are better secured in the state of nature. This point of view sharply contrasts with that of Hobbes who sees the state of nature as one of constant battles. Hobbes sees a civil society as the most ideal way of ensuring that collective freedoms are preserved.
According to Rousseau people have more freedoms and live peacefully in the state of natural law. However, other philosophers such as Hobbes and Locke disagree with this view and see the civil society as more ideal. Rousseau is highly a libertarian because the advocates for a high degree of freedom and individual judgment which he sees as being present in the state of natural law.
c. Rousseau made a distinction of natural liberty, civil liberty, and moral liberty. This is basically his classification of various categories of freedom. Natural liberty is the most basic and thrives in the state of nature, in natural liberty, man has unlimited freedom and right to anything he/she desires and is capable of attaining. Civil liberty is gained upon entry into a civil society through a social contract. Men give up the natural liberty which is less secure in exchange for civil liberty which is secured collectively. Rousseau, however, believes that the loss of natural liberty is a fundamental loss