The Social Construct By Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Freedom is a very broad term and it is subject to many different interpretations, such as the example given by Jean-Jacques Rousseau on his book The Social Construct. He stated that “Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains”, implying that no individual is truly free. He believes that people have the right to be free but are not able to be for they are enslaved to the societies that they belong in. Though this may sound a bit negative, Rosseau talks about when it is proper to do such a thing, to “enslave” the people. He states that it is acceptable to put the people in “chains” when the people agree to be put to “chains”. This means that repressing freedom is not always bad as long as the people agree to it and believe that it is for their own benefit.
Rousseau believes that humans are born naturally good. He states that naturally, individuals are born with a sense of love for themselves that is real and unbiased. Rousseau also reasons that the social interactions that individuals undergo, is what corrupts it and lessens its authenticity. Rousseau indicates that in the natural state of things mankind can live harmoniously with one another, but as societies were established comes the problems that we have today. Rosseau says that going back to this nature is the way to go, he states that artificial systems should be removed
It is the main reason why enslavement is not a thing in our society. It is because humanity’s ability to feel compassion and pity toward each other is what makes the society a better place. Compassion is a lot different from self love that Rosseau also talks about. Self love is by definition the love that we have for ourselves, which leads to individuals looking for things that would benefit themselves, whereas compassion is what drives these same individuals to care for and think about the good of