The Social Contract
Agenda
• Quick recap of previous lessons;
• An overview of Jean-Jacques Rousseau and the Enlightenment;
• The State of Nature;
• The social contract – Hobbes vs. Rousseau;
• The general will;
• Summary
2/8/20XX 2
Recap
• Laws – formal, official and obligatory rules that protect
the rights of citizens;
• Justice – a way to make society fairer and more just;
• John Locke and liberalism;
• Rights – fundamental principles that concern all of
humanity;
• Duties – commitment and awareness of other people’s
rights;
• The state – the political organization of society;
• The State of Nature;
• Thomas Hobbes
The Age of Enlightenment
• 17th – 18th century movement;
• Also called the Age of Reason;
• A time of philosophical, social, political
and intellectual flourishing;
• Many prominent thinkers lived during the
Enlightenment such as: Hobbes, Locke,
Rousseau, Hume, Voltaire, Kant, etc.
• Its legacy of modernity is still felt today
Jean-Jacques Rousseau 1712 – 1778
• Genevan/French Enlightenment thinker;
• Had profound influence on politics, education, philosophy
and economics;
• Influenced the French Revolution;
• Noteworthy works: The Social Contract (1762), Discourse
on the Origin and Basis of Inequality Among Men (1755)
The State of Nature
• Rousseau shares Locke’s optimistic view that humans can live
peacefully in the State of Nature;
• The difference is that Locke used the State of Nature to emphasize
individual human rights;
• Rousseau uses the State of Nature to illustrate the corrupting power
of society
Sample Footer Text
“Man is born free, but
everywhere he is in
chains.”
Rousseau, The Social Contract
Question:
Why do you think Rousseau believes that we
are in chains, even though we are born free?
The negative effects of society
• Self-interest;
• Constant comparison;
• Possessions;
• Fierce competition;
• Societal and institutional restrictions
The social contract
• The foundation of society;
• Agreement between the members of a
community;
• The structure of the state, the laws and
the rights of the citizens are determined;
• The community passes from a natural
state to a civil state;
• An Enlightenment idea introduced by
Thomas Hobbes in 1651
The social contract
(Hobbes)
• According to Thomas Hobbes, the social contract
exists to put an end to the constant state of war
and violence in the State of Nature;
• Individuals seek security by establishing a state
and a powerful ruler;
• Security over freedom
The social contract
(Hobbes)
Question:
• According to Thomas Hobbes, the social contract
Do you see a problem exists to put an end to the constant state of war
and violence in the State of Nature;
Hobbes’s emphasis on
• Individuals seek security by establishing a state
security over freedom? and a powerful ruler;
• Security over freedom
The social contract
(Rousseau)
• According to Jean-Jacques Rousseau, the social
contract exists to unite individuals;
• Even though the natural state is peaceful, it does
not offer as many opportunities as the civil state;
• Individuals seek a “general will”
• Community over individuality
“What man loses by the social contract is his natural liberty and
an unlimited right to everything he tries to get and succeeds in
getting; what he gains is civil liberty and the proprietorship of
all he possesses.”
ROUSSEAU, THE SOCIAL
CONTRACT
The general will
We are individuals, but we are also part of a larger community;
Rousseau’s general will serves as a way for us to put aside our self-
interest in favor of the common good;
The general will is expressed democratically;
The people are the sovereign, instead of a monarch
“"Each of us puts his person and all his power in common
under the supreme direction of the general will, and, in our
corporate capacity, we receive each member as an indivisible
part of the whole."”
ROUSSEAU, THE SOCIAL
CONTRACT
Question:
Do you see a problem with the general will?
We are individuals, but we are also part of a larger community;
Rousseau’s general will serves as a way for us to put aside our self-
interest in favor of the common good;
The general will is expressed democratically;
The people are the sovereign, instead of a monarch
Questions:
Is security more important than freedom?
Is community more important than individuality?
Summary
• Jean-Jacques Rousseau and his influence on
thought;
• The State of Nature – a way to criticize society;
• The corruptive effects of society;
• The social contract – two opposing viewpoints;
• The general will – aiming for the common good,
but also potentially discriminating the minority
References
• Rousseau, Jean-Jacques. The Social Contract. Translated by G.D.H. Cole, public domain,
https://web.archive.org/web/20171215154541id_/https://www.ucc.ie/archive/hdsp/Rousse
au_contrat-social.pdf
• Plugarova-Raycheva, Milena. Philosophy 10th grade. National Publishing House “Az-
buki”, 2021;
• Cambridge Dictionary, https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/sovereign
• Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Jacques_Rousseau
Thank You
And enjoy your vacation!
