Rousseau's Social Contract
The first of the four benefits of society conferred by Rousseau's Social Contract is that we are all equals and shall be treated as such. In this, he describes a general will which dictates the actions of the individual and basically the good of the whole is the good of its parts. Rousseau says, "Each of us puts in common his person and his whole power under the supreme direction of the general will; and in return we receive every member as an indivisible part of the whole" (Rousseau, p. 144). This leads to the second benefit. The second of Rousseau's benefits is that society shall create its own freedom through natural and moral means. By putting ourselves under the guidance and direction of the general will, we give ourselves over to our innate humanity. As Rousseau says, "giving himself to all, gives himself to nobody" (Rousseau, p. 144). Once this is put into action, we will begin to follow our own natural and (for the common good) moral law, which bring about the third benefit. The third benefit of Rousseau's Social Contract is that once we begin to follow the positive natural law, we will gain certain civil liberties. According to Rousseau, once our minds are opened to this "new freedom", our own natural instincts wil
------------------------------------------------------------------------ The fourth benefit of the Social Contract is the right of real property through force or right of first occupancy. According to Rousseau, the latter (more realistic than the former) can only be truly obtained by acquiring only as much as is necessary for sustenance and by also sustaining the land through cultivation. This action alone, he states, builds in man a root to his own humanity. In short, Martin Luther King's Letter from Birmingham City Jail clearly and explicitly describes the justifications for his actions. His logic, admirably, is adamant and as far as one can see, almost faultless. Combined with his strong sense of justice and Christianity, his civil disobedience was without question just. l be developed and we shall finally become that which we were in the beginning, intelligent human beings. Another civil liberty we will gain, according to Rousseau, is the right of real property, the fourth benefit. As far as Luther's actions making sense from a democratic perspective, I do not believe this is a fair question to ask as it depends on the definition of "sense". His actions, because illegal and therefore automatically "wrong," did not and would not make "sense" to the democr
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Approximate Word count = 863
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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