Rousseau and Voltaire

A detailed Summary of Rousseau and Voltaire


In the French Revolution, the struggle for freedom, (liberty) was a long-term goal. Voltaire pointed out that to be free or liberated meant to be able to, or the power to act. At the same time, the term free will meant to wish. Since these terms were often interchanged, their meanings were blurred and unclear. According to the Age of Reason, nothing happens without a cause. So Voltaire might have reasoned that such violent events as the storming of the Bastille and the slaughter of August 4th, were lessons to teach French citizens the uselessness and cruelty of extreme violence.

Voltaire realized that the concept of general will was a useless means of government, until the masses understood it. The masses of France were illiterate and therefore general will fell on deaf ears. Rousseau angered by Voltaire's remark, jumped in.

First he introduced the idea of general will in his Social Contract. The general will is an agreement amongst the citizens of a nation, but excluding the leader, in which they agree to keep the common good. Here the phrase "


Rousseau wrote: "We are born weak, we need strength; we are born lacking everything, we need aid; we are born stupid, we need judgement." Yet he also thought that man is basically good. But a problem for the individual man was the lack of power. Since civil society makes men corrupt, Rousseau advocated using logic rather than emotions to make moral decisions in public affairs. Virtue came from the freedom of men to make decisions for the good of the community. The general will meant giving up individual rights for the betterment of the collective group. Therefore civil liberties were an oxymoron, since civilized society needed laws and rules to function, while liberty was the freedom to act as one pleased. It is therefore impossible to reconcile the natural man with the citizen. So it was responsibility of the government to attain freedom, equality, and justice for all its citizens. Even if the will of the majority was not correct, the state must remember what is good for the entire group and not separate politics from morality.

At the same time that Rouss

Some common words found in the essay are:
Terror Robespierre, Age Reason, Obviously Rousseau, Voltaire Rousseau, French Revolution, Equality Fraternity, Social Contract, freedom equality, freedom liberty,

Approximate Word count = 725
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: History

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