Rousseau

A detailed Summary of Rousseau

Rousseau clearly promotes a perfect utopian society in The Social Contract, which according to his theory would eliminate all societal problems and hints at Totalitarianism in a few passages from his Second Discourse. Although such a society would be wonderful, the ideas would never work in practice because of human wants and desires. He desperately attempts to lay down a form of government that eliminates any chance for the people to be victims. Rousseau specifically shows us the faults in the other types of government and tries to prevent them in his ideas. He wants to create a political situation where people have as much sovereignty as possible. In order to reduce the chance of victimhood among people there must be equality between them all. Rousseau discusses 'the right of the first occupant' in The Social Contract. He writes, "...the claimant occupies no more than he needs for subsistence...he takes possession...by actually working and cultivating the soil - the only sign of !

ownership..."(Social, p.66) Each man receives what he needs from the common good and no more. Rousseau obviously wants people to be as equal as possible, and believes that once you enter the civil society you only have the right to what i

ment. With the will of all having a part in the government, there is democracy. Rousseau wants to leave out the will of all to avoid more conflict. In Rousseau's society the sovereign can demand services from the citizens whenever necessary. This commitment of everybody to render services to the state is legally constraining. The general will must be general in purpose and nature in order to provide equal rights and justice. The general will must come from all and apply to all, it must not be directed towards any particular object or being. Each man must think of him as part of a 'we' and nothing else. (Social, pages 74-75) The whole idea of an individual is lost from this angle of thought. What one own truly belongs to the sovereignty, which means the state. Everybody must be given property to live with, but it is not really theirs to own as long as it can be taken away from them at any given moment. Rousseau creates a faceless, wealthless society in this section of his book.!

Rousseau attacks religion in the final chapter of The Social Contract. He believes that all forms of religion are threatening to the government and weaken it. Religion distracts everyone from attending to matters of the state. He believes that each member should put the well being of the civil society before the well being of his or her religion. Religion tends to get in the way or conflict with the well being of the state. (Social, p.179) Religion can become tyrannical and intolerant to those who will not accept their Gods. (Social, p.182) Rousseau notices examples with the Christian Crusades and Inquisitions. There was no form of tolerance when these occurred. Christianity disconnects people from what is truly important to the state and can destroy the social bond. (Social, p.182) Rousseau argues, if religion is necessary, it should also be provided by the government. He sees how religion can be used to the benefit of the state. Rousseau writes, "it is very important to the !

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On pages 76 and 77 in The Social Contract he elaborates even more on this faceless society. He has all the citizens pledge themselves to the same conditions and they all enjoy the same rights. To have everyone pledge to the same conditions has everyone living socialistic, not allowing anyone to better themselves. He also has every act of sovereignty apply to every citizen equally and makes no distinction between each of the members. This is the social contract that is common to all, and is enforced by the armed forces and the supreme power. Even if the sovereignty acts against an individual, there will be armed forces to make sure it happens because it is for the common good.

At first glance Rousseau seems to be promoting some form of democracy in The Social Contract. Upon closer inspection Rousseau's description of democracy takes on the form of a more totalitar

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Approximate Word count = 1963
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Politics