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In The Social Contract By Sartre And Rousseau

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In The Social Contract By Sartre And Rousseau
Sartre and Rousseau define freedom differently. But both think, although; for different reasoning that humans have no choice, but to live in a state of freedom. Rousseau believes freedom means being able to be oneself, and to not be restrained or forced to conform. He thinks humans should be forced to be free; meaning they are only allowed to live in a state of freedom. Rousseau came to this conclusion based on his observations of the French Enlightenment; which he saw as a time where people lost their freedom. He concluded that without freedom one cannot trust another, and form alliances ; without this ability Rousseau believes humans would perish. Additionally, Rousseau thinks there should be a democratic government. Such as the social contract, …show more content…
If the contract is violated, people regain their freedoms. Sartre, however, thinks that freedom means a person is able to define themselves through their decisions. Sartre believes that people are condemned to be free; as he thinks existence precedes essence. That is to say that one's decisions determine who they are going to be, and not a God. If our freedom comes in being able to make decisions, one cannot not be free; because one cannot avoid making decisions. If existence precedes essence, this means there is no God; this means there is no such things as human nature. This leads Sartre to say that one's actions, whatever they may be, tells others that they too should act like them. Sartre recognizes, that having this much moral responsibility can lead to one feeling anguished and …show more content…
One feels forlorn because if god is nonexistent nothing is guaranteed neither good nor bad “everything is permissible” (Sartre 253). A person feels morally responsible; because one can no longer blame their behavior on“biological or psychological determinism” (Sartre 254). For instance, if someone is a coward, they are responsible for being a coward. Many would like to think “a coward or hero is born that way” because it is a simpler explanation of behavior, and one does not have to take responsibility for their actions (Sartre
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