Preview

Does Rousseau’s Du Contrat Social signal the advent of modern democracy? Or does it represent a dangerous recipe for the suppression of individual human freedom?

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1882 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Does Rousseau’s Du Contrat Social signal the advent of modern democracy? Or does it represent a dangerous recipe for the suppression of individual human freedom?
Does Rousseau 's _Du Contrat Social_ signal the advent of modern democracy? Or does it represent a dangerous recipe for the suppression of individual human freedom?

Rousseau 's social contract is often likened to modern democracy, however, most political ideologies can be likened to one another in some form and one doesn 't have to dig deep before they find some major differences between the two ideologies. In his writing, Rousseau tries to develop an ideology that maintains humans individual freedom, but in a social way. However his ideology is full of flaws and is missing a key ingredient for implementation into human life. In order to understand these flaws one must explore the features of his ideology. Firstly in order to understand his ideology one must first understand the emphasis he places on human freedom. Secondly this essay will look at the basic essence of the social contract and look at how Rousseau tries to justify the movement of natural freedom to social freedom. Thirdly this essay will explore the ways in which Rousseau intended the state to be protected from dissolution. The fourth paragraph will look at the formation and the purpose of law in the state. The fifth paragraph will discuss the role of the government, and the differences between the social contract and democracy. Paragraph six will look at the flaws and inconsistencies in his ideology and what effect these would have on people. Lastly the essay will be concluded by tying in all the major points and the formulation of an appropriate answer to the question at hand.

Central to Rousseau 's writings is his focus on human and individual freedom. He begins by making the point that man could not be free if he belonged to a monarch. He viewed men under a king as slaves. For a citizen to be free he needed to belong to a republic whose laws are drawn up by its people. (Keens-Soper, 1988, p.173). He believed that man had moved from a position of freedom to a position of servitude under



Bibliography: Keens-Soper, M. (1988) 'Jean-Jacques Rousseau: _The Social Contract_ ' in Forsyth, M. and Keens-Soper, M. (eds) _The Political Classics, A Guide to the Essential Texts from Plato to Rousseau_ (Oxford University Press 2003), 171-202

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Rousseau’s makes it clear that “the only will dominating government should be the general will or the law.” The National Assembly of France used this principle in the sixth listed right in the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen which reads that “the law is an expression of the general will.” The general will, as Rousseau states, is for the best of the common interest of the country. The king will not always act in the best interest of his country, so it is imperative to form a constitutional monarchy that seeks to act in the best interest of the general…

    • 1264 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    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.…

    • 799 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    00-Sep-2016 Asma Ahmed Bham Shaping Modernity - Essay Assignment “In what way does Burke’s speeches before Parliament reflect some of the ideas articulated by Rousseau in The Social Contract?” The social contract is about people exchanging their political freedom for protection from their ruling body. Going back to initial idea of the social contract by Thomas Hobbs, who talks about the relationship between the ruler and those they rule, says that there is an exchange between these two parties- freedoms for protection.…

    • 614 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Jean-Jacques Rousseau, who lived from 1712 to 1778, was a man of many things. Rousseau was a composer, philosopher, and a writer in the 18th century. His political philosophy influenced the Enlightenment in France and across Europe, as well as aspects of the French Revolution and the overall development of modern political thought. Rousseau's also had ideas about education.…

    • 192 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the opening of the “Declaration of Independence,” Jefferson lays out several main themes that reflect Rousseau's concepts. Jefferson borrows from Rousseau's thinking on equality and freedom when writing, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights…" (Jefferson 80). Rousseau speaks of equality by disproving the philosophies of Thomas Hobbes and Hugo Grotius. These men support the concept that "human race... [refers only to a small, select class of people - the ruling class] (Rousseau 60). Rousseau thinks that the philosophies of these men lack justification and that "All men are born free, and everywhere he is in chains" (Rousseau 59). All men are equal only until they give up their freedom and equality in exchange for comforts and protection in their lives. In other words, Rousseau says man is born free, but because of society man become less and less free. The government, and its laws bind the people down, but the people gain benefits from the government.…

    • 801 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Whereas Madison asserts that the State has no say over a person’s relationship with the Creator, Rousseau only rejects certain State religions on technical grounds and eventually concludes that society should demand a significant religious test. It is surprising that given Madison and Rousseau’s uniform goal, a stable society, they should come up with such widely varying methods for achieving it. One may be tempted to suggest that, unlike Rousseau, Madison considers individual rights to be more important than the proper functioning of society. Upon closer examination, however, it becomes clear that Madison and Rousseau's general disagreement on State power stems from a more fundamental dispute over how society works. According to Madison, society exists with a certain power and then instills this power in the government, while Rousseau argues that it is the creation of a government which makes society materialize. These disparate views on the directionality of government and society directly lead to Madison and Rousseau’s other…

    • 312 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Rousseau added to the idea of democracy by creating the idea that people are born good but can be corrupted by society, therefore they need to make the laws themselves and willingly obey them. He believed that if left to itself, society would follow these equally created laws and society would maintain its naturally born goodness. He believes that only the general society is capable enough to run themselves with laws created by the people for the people. Much of these ideas are still around today combined with other ideas in our own…

    • 507 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    One of Rousseau 's ideas that was also talked about in his text was the idea that man was born free. This idea of being free is incorperated within the Declaration itself. “We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain inalienble Rights.” (pg. 80). This line from the declaration of independence focuses its idea to that which rousseau considers a “Right,” a word mentioned in the Declaration of independence itself. Rousseau talks about this concept of a “right” of being a sort of natural agreement of authority that all men are born with. Rousseau explains that our rights cannot derive from physcial strength, and cannot derive from our natrual authority over his fellows, he explains that a right is a sort of an authority that is given…

    • 1565 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    5. Jean-Jacques Rousseau, in his Social Contract, argued that in every country the sovereign voice of government…

    • 3293 Words
    • 14 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Can freedom ever be truly found or is it just a tool used to give people something to strive for. This is the question presented by Rousseau and is the base for his explanation in regards to freedom; the people of America and the world seek acceptance and pleasure. We allow ourselves to become slaves to these ideals in our attempts to attain our definition of both. A person’s…

    • 1266 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    In The Social Contract, Rousseau asserts the idea of the people's General Will being the ideal governing force of the state. This idea is essentially the total alienation of each individual to the entire community, thus constructing the Sovereign. The collective body rules in the common interest, acting without individual bias or selfish concerns, to decide the laws that the Sovereign itself is to follow. However rightly intended, this concept is flawed because it requires people to put the community's needs above their own. Rousseau distorts basic human nature by committing the fallacy of assuming people value the common good over their own personal interest. Ideally, civic politics would be the most important thing to every citizen, but in reality it is almost impossible to make a unanimous decision without the influence of self-interest. The General Will has good intentions, but its spirit would better be carried out through a more feasible concept of democracy. Rousseau forms the Social Contract as a way to preserve freedom through self-government by eliminating individual self-interest, basing his theory on the optimistic assertion that society will voluntarily follow the General Will. However, self-interest is the catalyst of progress, and for a state to advance and prosper there must be a government, such as the modern form of democracy, that allows for more opposition and individuality.…

    • 1529 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    For the second film analysis, I watched "Girl Interrupted." The movie is about a teenage girl name Susanna Kaysen who has been diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder. People with Borderline Personality Disorder "are often emotionally unstable, impulsive, unpredictable, irritable, and anxious. They also are prone to boredom. Their behavior is similar to that of individuals with schizotypal personality disorder but they are not as consistently withdrawn and bizarre" (Santrock, 2005). In "Girl Interrupted" Susanna Kaysen the main character, goes through many episodes that give a picture of the disorder she's suffering from. The first such incident occurs when the psychiatrist is talks to Susanna about her failed suicide attempt. During the conversation, she is seen as confused and irritated by his presence. While the psychiatrist questions her, her mind seems to be somewhere else because she is having flash backs of her past, maybe a sign of ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder). Susanna seems to be uncertain about things, she claims that she does not know what she feels. She was taken to the hospital after she tried to commit suicide, she took a bottle of aspirin. Her reason for taking the full bottle of aspirin was major headache, which was also alarming to the psychiatrist.…

    • 608 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    However, Rousseau was not the first philosopher to discuss social contracts, or the state of man in nature or even personal liberties. Actually Rousseau’s theories followed those of Thomas Hobbs, and John Locke, whom both of them had published similar concepts. Nonetheless, Rousseau’s theories were extremely different than those of Hobbs and Locke’s based on the state of nature, regarding primitive man. For example, Hobbs perceived primitive man in the state of nature, as shit show of inhumane acts of violence. Now Locke perceived the state of nature of man very differently than that of Hobbs.…

    • 1179 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Frankenstein

    • 1143 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Cited: Bertram, Christopher. "Jean Jacques Rousseau." The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Standford: 2012. Web. 25 Feb. 2013…

    • 1143 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    majority or individual

    • 1646 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Throughout the history, philosophers have emerged new ideas about how society govern and how people can be free two of these philosophers are that Jean Jacques Rousseau and John Stuart Mill who are significant philosophers in our world because their ideas about liberty and general will have shaped today’s world. Actually, these philosophers have a contrast about liberty since Rousseau has an idea about general will what he explained as majority’s ideas ignores minority’s and understanding of liberty for Mill is not the same with him. According to Rousseau, the whole political or sovereign entity established common will of all citizens. The interests of everyone and respecting the will of the general public, the private willpower are based on personal interests. Personal will or interest should be passive in front of general will. This is the only legitimate government of floating Rousseau's management has said that the general will. According to Rousseau, general will do not make mistakes so other ideas are not important; however, Mill said that every ideas have the same importance because there is human fallibility so people should share their ideas (freedom of speech). According to Mill, freedom of speech enables us to increase quality of freedom and every person should be listened because majority’s ideas may not be true. Rousseau and Mill have been conflicted each other about general will and human fallibility. There is a conflict between the ideas of Rousseau and Mill with regard to the obedience to the collective will. While Rousseau perceives the general will as a necessity to ensure the well-being of society as a whole, Mill points out that individuality is essential for development of the self which brings well-being to the society. Although their ideas are not the same about liberty, they thought that government should emerge by voting. In this essay, I will mention understanding of Rousseau about ideal citizens who accept…

    • 1646 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays

Related Topics