Jean Jacques Rousseau Flashcards
Background of JJR
He was born in Geneva Switzerland into a very religious background, he left for France where he discovered the city was perverted and the society was corrupt and this led him in search of an ideal society where he would find the good in people. He was a prominent thinker of the Enlightenment and is described as the greatest French thinker ever
What books did JJR write?
Emile
Discusses
The Social Contract
What popular phrase is he known for?
Man is born free but is everywhere in chains
What was JJR’s view of the state of nature and human nature?
He accepts that in the state of nature, man was good, healthy and equal to one another, (from Locke) they were entirely solitary (Hobbes)
Although man was docile, he was peaceful and pursued his own self interest.
In the state of nature, people realized that they couldn’t protect their self interest against others and decided to combine security with others to preserve the liberty he had in the state of nature.
Man began to compare his abilities and this led to inequality in the state of nature, the introduction of property further worsened this.
What were his thoughts on The Social Contract and The Civil Society?
The civil society was created to provide peace for everyone and to ensure the right to property for anyone lucky enough to have possessions.
He argued that if the society can be based on a genuine social contract, people will receive a better kind of freedom
Under his social contract, people surrender their rights to the whole community and get rights that are legitimate and enforced by the collective force of the community.
Individuals form a social contract willingly by giving up their natural rights and freedom to create a civil society that protects the common good
In the state of nature, humans and free and equal but their lives are characterized by conflict and insecurity and this leads to the emergence of the social contract where men formed a collective body called the sovereign who represents the natural will of the people and act in their best interests.
The sovereign reflects the common good rather than individual desires and the only legitimate political authority is the authority consented to by all the people for the sake of their mutual preservation
