Jean Jacques Rousseau Research Paper

Rousseau and The Social Contract “Man is born free and everywhere he is in chains.” These were the words of Jean Jacques Rousseau, French thinker and Genevan philosopher. Throughout civilized communities in various nations around the world, the need for a form of government has been constant and essential. From the Mesopotamians to the Romans, mankind has been on the search for “the ideal government.” Ancient, prototypical governments consisted of tribe leaders and verbal agreements formed with other tribes. Due to infinitesimal sizes of the tribes and the intertwined social hierarchies, these organizations were responsive to the desires of the governed. With the development of agriculture, these once nomadic civilizations started to settle.

At the time, Geneva was a safe-haven and religious asylum for Protestantism from all around Europe because of Calvin’s impact. While theoretically allowing all males to vote, Geneva was ruled by the Council of Two Hundred, a group of wealthy families who further split into the Little Council - a twenty-five member executive group. After a failed attempt to introduce a modernized form of musical notation, the moneyless Rousseau moved to Paris, where he befriended French philosopher Diderot. It was here Rousseau began publishing articles on political economy. Rousseau’s first major publishing was the Discourse on the Origin and Basis of Inequality Among Men. Attracting much attention, Rousseau was now backed by two powerful French noblemen, who enjoyed his critique of King Louis XV. Some of Rousseau’s stories talked Anabaptist creeds, and portrayed beliefs against the original sin and divine Revelation. The religious indifference in his works led to the banishment of Rousseau’s works, and caused him to be condemned from Christianity. A warrant for Rousseau’s arrest was issued. In order to prevent being arrested, Rousseau’s friends publicly condemned his work and his views through further writings of their own. Rousseau fled to Neuchâtel, a northwestern Swiss canton and republished his works under false covers and title pages, later redistributing them in France. Out of fear for his life,

As one of the major themes in political philosophy, the discussion over the state of nature reveals why man has established political societies. In the Discourse on Inequality, the state of nature is a hypothetical place where all humans live free and uncorrupted by society. Each and every person has the complete freedom to do as they wish. This physical freedom leaves the populace without the burden of the influence of state and society. Nevertheless, the state of nature explains that those people who have not discovered rational thinking are a setback of society. Rousseau describes those who act towards their individual wills versus those who act on the general will. The general will is a collective political theory that aims for the common good. He writes, "You are undone if you once forget that the fruits of the earth belong to us all, and the earth itself to nobody.” For Rousseau, general will was not an abstract ideal. It held people in their quality as citizens. To take part in the general will, was for each citizen to vote on the basis of justice. According to Rousseau, individuals reflect their interests as a whole, subconsciously following a “silence of passions.” Rousseau argued that mankind is inherently good, but is later corrupted by the evils of society. In Émile, he argues, “We are born capable of sensation and from birth are affected in diverse ways by the objects around