JEAN-JACQUES ROUSSEAU

“Man is born free and he is everywhere in chains”. - Jean-Jacques Rousseau

BACKGROUND
Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) was another social contract theorist who was born in
Geneva.His political theories influenced the progress of the Enlightenment throughout Europe
and the development of modern political, economic and educational thought.
Rousseau is best remembered for his concept of popular sovereignty and the theory of
general will which provides a philosophical justification for democratic governance.
He was the intellectual father of the French Revolution as well as the last and perhaps the
greatest of the modern contract theorists.
WORKS
Rousseau’s works had mass appeal as he stood for the abolition of the rights of privileged
classes.
Some of the important works of Rousseau are:
‘Discourses on Inequality’
‘The Social contract’
‘La Nouvelle Heloise’
‘The Emile’
‘The Confessions, Dialogues and Reveries’

INFLUENCES ON ROUSSEAU

Rousseau was self educated and did not receive any formal education like Hobbes or Locke.
Because of the hard life Rousseau could appreciate the problems faced by common men. As
Maxey comments, “His lowly origin and his humble, mendicant way of life was a source of
his power”. Rousseau was profoundly influenced by thinkers like Plato, Locke, Montesquieu,
Hobbes etc Locke’s theories on natural rights and sovereignty influenced Rousseau the most.
Professor Laski says, “Rousseau’s teaching is only a widening of a channel dug by Locke.”
Rousseau favored democratic form of government because of his long association with the
Kingdom of Geneva

ROUSSEAU ON HUMAN NATURE

According to Rousseau, man was basically good and it is only the wrong actions which make
him wicked.
He suggested that man is good rather than society is bad. Hence the society has to be changed
and in turn man will automatically become good.
Rousseau states that the true or the original nature of man is that he has self love and
sympathy for others.
He asserts that man’s if man’s self-interest grows, it gives him a sense of pride and that
pride is the root cause of all the evils

THEORY OF GENERAL WILL

“Rousseau’s general will is Leviathan with its head chopped off”

The theory of General Will or the concept of Popular Sovereignty is one of the revolutionary
concepts propounded by Rousseau. Through this theory, he sees the body politic - “possessed of
a will and this general will, which tends always to the preservation and welfare of the whole and
of every part, and is the source of the laws, constitutes for all the members of the state in their
relation to one another and to it, the rule of what is just or unjust”.
By introducing the concept of General Will, Rousseau fundamentally alters the mechanistic
concept of the state as an instrument and revives the organic theory of the state, which goes back
to Plato and Aristotle.
In order to better understand the theory of General Will, we have to know the difference between
actual will and real will.
Types of individual’s will
What is actual will?
According to Rousseau the actual will was the will which was selfish, irrational and thought of
the good of the individual alone without bothering about the society.
What is real will?
Real will was higher, nobler and supreme, which impelled the individual to think of the well
being of the entire society rather than his self-interest.
It was more social than anti-social and collective rather than individualistic.
Real will was based on reason. Hence it was permanent and not momentary.
ACTUAL Will REAL Will
What is actual will?
According to Rousseau the actual will was the will which was selfish, irrational and thought of
the good of the individual alone without bothering about the society.
What is real will?
Real will was higher, nobler and supreme, which impelled the individual to think of the well
being of the entire society rather than his self-interest.
It was more social than anti-social and collective rather than individualistic.
Real will was based on reason. Hence it was permanent and not momentary.What is General
will?
General will of Rousseau is nothing but the sum total of all the real wills of the individuals which
were based on reason and farsightedness of the individuals.
What are the attributes of General will?
General will is indivisible according to Rousseau. Just like the personality of an individual
that cannot be divided, the general will also cannot be divided. Once it starts dividing, it
ceases to be a general will and becomes merely sensational will.
Like the human will, the General will not be represented by anybody else.
General will is supreme and nobody can disobey it.
Further, Rousseau believed in direct democracy through general will as general will is not
representative in nature.
General will is always correct. It is the will of the community and it is based on reason,
wisdom and experience.

CRITICAL EVALUATION

The concept is quite vague and confusing in nature.

Rousseau tries to divide the individual into two parts: the essential and non-essential. It is
impossible to divide the will into two such parts in reality.
Rousseau saw the government as an agent of the General will, the sovereign entity in the
body polity. Like Montesquieu, he believed all forms of government were not suited to all
countries. A government had to reflect the character of a country and its people.
ROUSSEAU’S SOCIAL CONTRACT
Though Rousseau criticized civil society, he did not suggest man to choose the savage
existence, as some of his contemporaries mistook him. The main concern of the social
contract is the central issue of all political speculation: Political obligation.
‘The Problem’ Rousseau says’ “is to find a form of association which will defend and protect
with the whole common force the person and goods of each associate, and in which each
while uniting himself with all may still obey himself alone, and remain as free as before”.
Like his predecessors, Rousseau uses the conceptions of the state of nature and the social
contract that puts to end to it. Rousseau’s conception of man’s life in the state of nature is
not quite gloomy as that of Hobbes’ nor as optimistic as that of Locke.
Each man pursues his self-interest in the state of nature until he discovers that his power to
preserve himself individually against the threats and hindrances of others is not strong
enough Rousseau’s social contract opens thus: “Man is born free and he is everywhere in
chains”.
His purpose is how to make the chains legitimate in place of the illegitimate chains of the
contemporary society.The purpose of the social contract is thus to combine security which comes
from collective association, with liberty which the individual had before the making of the
contract. But the social contract consists in the total alienation of each associate, together with
all his rights, to the whole community.
Each man gives himself to all, he gives himself to nobody in particular. In Rousseau’s social
contract man does not surrender completely to a sovereign ruler, but each man gives
himself to all, and therefore gives himself to nobody in particular.
Rousseau shows in the social contract a much greater appreciation of civil society as
compared with the state of nature.

ESTIMATE OF ROUSSEAU

Rousseau‘s political philosophy was one of the most innovative, striking and brilliantly argued
theories. His most important achievement was that he understood the pivotal problem that faced
individuals in society - how to reconcile individual interests with those of the larger interests of
the society.
Rousseau is the first modern writer to attempt, not always successfully to synthesize good
government with self government in the key concept of General will.
He asserted the importance of state in the life of an individual and fullest development of
the individual is possible only in a state.
Rousseau developed the concept of nation-state by proposing the concepts of common
good, common interest and general will as well as unity and solidarity of the people.
He was the greatest exponent of direct democracy.
Finally, his theory of general will was inherited by the subsequent utilitarian thinkers like
Jeremy Bentham.
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IMPORTANT QUOTES
“Man is born free and everywhere he is in chains.”
“The world of reality has its limits; the world of imagination is boundless.”
“What wisdom can you find that is greater than kindness?”
“Absolute silence leads to sadness. It is the image of death.”
“People who know little are usually great talkers, while men who know much say little.”
“Happiness: a good bank account, a good cook, and a good digestion.”
“The strongest is never strong enough to be always the master, unless he transforms
strength into right, and obedience into duty
‘has the progress of sciences and arts contributed to corrupt or
purified morals?’