ROUSSOU: SOCIAL CONTRACT Flashcards
Background Information on Rousseau:
Born: 1712 in Geneva (free-republic)
Died: 1778
Political Stand: Democratic
Economy: He grew up in poverty because his mother died during childbirth and his father abandoned him
Occupation: Rousseau met Baronne de Warrens at 16 when he was fleeing Geneva and became the caretaker of her estate and later her lover. He also tried to pursue a career in music, music copyist, and teacher.
Social Contract: He wrote in our social contract in 1762
Mental Illness: He struggled with mental illness most of his life because of trauma from his upbringing and towards the end of his life it got so bad that he accused Hume of conspiring against him.
Family: He wasn’t married but had 5 children but eventually they were all sent to orphanages because he did not take care of them
How does Rousseau see Hobbes and Locke?
Rousseau sees Hobbes and Locke as individualistic/ only interested in the individuals benefits
For Hobbes and Locke the social contract is a way for individuals to ensure their own security and property. For them, individuals are individualistic and they still remain this way even after joining the contract.
For Rousseau this is problematic because there is no sense of collectivity. He believes that if there is no unity or collective way of thinking then there is no sovereignty. For Rousseau the social contract is a sovereign that everyone participates in, it is not just a contract that you sign once and your done.
Rousseau wants to mainly answer/find out what?
What legitimate political authority is.
Should the people be ruling or should they be subject to rules or subject to something else? (He believes the people should be ruling and they should be subject to the rules THAT THEY CREATE THEMSELVES)
How does Rousseau see the state of nature?
To him the state of nature is when everyone has excessive freedom and there is no unity amongst individuals. People are more individualistic.
People are unequal and some have more power than others.
He some what disregards the state of nature though because he thinks it so far gone that it is not so important.
What is the Social Contract for Rousseau?
The social contract is a collective unit that has a general will that thinks for the collective and prioritizes the collectives interests.
The General Will must be:
- General in essence and object: it is created by everyone and applies to everyone
- Inalienable: It cannot be taken away from the people.
- Indivisible: You cannot break It up into different parts
- Infallible: It cannot make mistakes
How does Rousseau see the General Will?
As a sovereign, it is above all.
What is the difference between the Will of All and the General Will?
Will of All is adding up everyone’s individual or private interests and the General Will is thinking from the collective oriented perspective.
How do you discover the General Will?
- Procedural: Using your own common sense/knowledge to deduce what the general will is. You think on your own about what the collective would want and that will help you know what the general will is. This method relies on the sociological method because you need to already know community thinking, what the community wants, etc.
- Sociological: Learning about the General Will through others. This method relies on the Legislator who socializes the people/informs them.
What are some preconditions to the General Will?
- Socioeconomic equality
- Shared history or practice
- No deeply rooted habits
- Self Sufficient
- No threat of invasion
What are the different types of Liberty?
Natural Liberty: The ability to do whatever you want (state of nature and type of negative liberty)
Civil Liberty: The kind of liberty you get when you join the social contract/society. You have laws that limit what you can do (negative liberty) but your life situation is secure enough that you are acting in the way that you choose (positive liberty)
Moral Liberty: Having the freedom to choose what is morally good for you.
How is freedom public?
It is public because it is not found in private life, it is public and can only happen in a collective.
Freedom has a sense of republicanism because it is concerned with public things and the things that people share in common.
What are fundamental laws?
Fundamental laws are laws that affect everybody and need to be agreed upon
How do we get laws for the General Will?
The legislator creates good laws that get the people thinking in terms of the general will.
How do legislators get people to think about the general will?
Through civil religion. They are not allowed to use force or reason to get people to think for the general will.
How does Rousseau see civil religion?
He sees civil religion as the most important set of laws because that is what causes us to think about/get in the mindset of the community.
He believes that if you don´t have a community feeling or sociability, then all the other laws that the general will creates are not going to be very binding/won’t be general in essence or object because nobody is thinking in the community spirit to begin with.
If people are subject to laws that they haven’t themselves made then they aren’t going to follow those laws.
What is the difference between in essence and in object?
In essence: The nature/origin of something.
In object: It is applicable or has to be applicable to everybody.
What is a procedural democracy?
When people are subject to choosing the things that they will follow in their democracy
What type of government does Rousseau suggest?
A procedural democracy
What are passive and active subjects?
Passive: You obey the rules someone gives you
Active: You implement rules
For Rousseau people are both because they are able to contribute to the creation of laws but they must also follow those laws.
What is the Legislative?
Everybody makes laws (General Will)
Rousseau prioritizes the legislative
What is the Executive?
Executive: The entity that is delegated to do the things the legislative told them to do. (Can take the form of a state, prince, etc)
Why does Rousseau not agree with religion of citizens?
Because it makes the name/group of people the object of worship
What are Rousseau´s thoughts on civic virtue?
It is through participating in society that people are transformed from animals to intelligent and moral beings
What does Rousseau think about Socioeconomic equality?
Rousseau believes that socioeconomic equality is a necessary condition for political equality.
State of nature for Rousseau is when there are people who have more power over others but the social contract makes it so that everyone is equal.
Problems when there is wealth inequality:
It creates dependence:He thinks that economic inequality leads to those that have less creating a form of servitude for those that have more and this is NOT MORALLY FREE. He isn’t saying everyone needs to be equal but there should not be such extremes that everyone is dependent for survival. There should not be inequality that makes people envy those that have more.
Weaken Civic Virtue: Because it causes people to think individually versus on the common good.
Causes Private Interest and Self Regard: Not thinking in terms of the community and only of yourself is viewed as dangerous by Rousseau not just because he values the community, it is also dangerous because it means that people will be actively creating their own laws that benefit them versus benefiting everyone. This is not sovereignty, this is just being unfree.
Different Types of Equality:
Abstract equality: People are not all the same but in the state of nature they were CREATED equally
Political/Civil Equality: Everyone is equal under the law
Socioeconomic Equality: People should be somewhat economically equal because if not it creates relations of domination
What is Rousseaus tension between liberalism and equality?
There is a tension because sometimes equality surpasses liberalism. For example, if there is socioeconomic equality then you are repressing some people from freely accumulating as much money as they want.
Rousseau favors equality over liberalism
In classical liberal thought, the idea is if you try to actively promote equality, you are limiting the freedom of some people who might not want to be equal or might want to accumulate things in an unequal way
Property in the State of Nature:
In the state of nature, people can have as much property as they want. It is a natural right to have property.
Property under the social contract:
With the social contract people move from being able to have whatever they want just by right of nature, to a positive situation where he has a right to the things he has but it is not unlimited (like in the state of nature)
Property vs. The General Will
Whatever claim the general will makes to a piece of property supersedes whatever individual claim an individual has.
Rousseau states that individual rights to property are fine but they just are not inalienable, rather they are subject to the ultimate priority of the general will
Rousseau and Lockes differences on property:
Locke says God gave the Earth for the people so people have the right to property.
Rousseau says people can have property but it is limited and the property is subject to the ultimate priority of the general will.
What is Rousseau interested in?
A free community of moral equals where sovereignty and law are legitimate only if people are both free and equal participants in making the laws.
Why is Civil Religion important to Rousseau?
It binds the community and is what adds a sense of duty, obligation, responsibility, etc. and not just ¨ we’re gonna obey laws.¨
What are the problems with Roussou´s thinking?
There are size restrictions within his proposals: the general will only works when there is a small body of people
There is only one will/ no diversity: People are only given one idea of what is good for the community and the general will doesn’t take into consideration that not every individual is going to think that the community needs what the general will says it does
Is there a way to think of before the social contract and a way to think after the social contract?
For Hobbes: yes, because in the state of nature you have fear and anxiety and under the Leviathan you don’t.
For Roussou: yes
According to Locke and Rousseau, is the social contract a historical fact?
Locke says: In the beginning there was a miracle, God gave it to us and then men created a government to protect property.
Rousseau says: State of Nature existed at a point in time but we’ve moved so far away from it.
