Rousseau and the Social Contract

Paper Summary:

The paper explains that Rousseau's rejection of social contract was grounded in the premise that by contracting with a man or assembly of men, individuals are forced to part with some of their natural liberty. The paper looks at Rousseau's ideas of general will and the elusive lawgiver and briefly examines the perspectives offered by Locke and Mill. The paper emphasizes that Rousseau's social contract theory was not based on a compromise of all rights but on the relinquishing of only those rights which fell in the social sphere.

From the Paper:

"Jean Jacques Rousseau's work 'Social Contract' occupies a very significant place in the political discourse of 19th century France. It did not present something very new or different than previously held beliefs but definitely encompassed some original concepts including the idea of general will and the elusive lawgiver. Rousseau's rejection of social contract was grounded in the premise that by contracting with a man or assembly of men, individuals are forced to part with some of their natural liberty. In other words while he knew that freedom was compromised to an extent with social contracts were entered into, but he maintained that the relinquished freedom should be social freedom and not natural freedom."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Rousseau, Of the Social Contract (1762), in The Social Contract and Other Later Political Writings, trans. Victor Gourevitch (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997)
• Mill, J.S., 1978, On Liberty. 'The Individual and the Limits of Government" Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Press.
• John Locke, Second Treatise of Government (Indiana: Hackett, 1980)

More papers on Rousseau and the Social Contract:

• Comparison Essay # 31931 : "Locke and Rousseau on the Social Contract"
• Book Review # 108936 : "Jean-Jacques Rousseau's "The Social Contract"
• Essay # 46504 : "Jacques Rousseau's "The Social Contract"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: