Locke Vs Rousseau

A Discussion on The Social Contract

The Social Contract was written to balance freedom of people and versus the needs of collectivity. Rousseau was for the preservation of liberty on the foundation of the creation of a new society by the means of the social contract. Other englighters already had this idea, all sponded from John Locke. Unlike other enlighteners, Rousseau was very original. Locke regarded the Social Contract to preserve liberty, however, Rousseau regarded the contract to preserve equality. The Social Contract influenced individuals to “..voluntarily relinquished certain rights and submitted to the general will, a vague entity that found expression in a set of positive laws under a virtuous legislator.These laws had absolute

Because no man has a natural authority over other men and because force cannot establish right, all legitimate authority must depend upon convention. Rousseau goes on to argue against Grotius, who argues that a state can be legitimate even if the people are slaves and the government is their master. Rousseau debates his claim that the people can alienate their liberty and give themselves to a higher power. Rousseau understood it as, no one will give up his liberty without getting something in return. A popular argument made by political philosophers holds that people can waive their freedom in exchange for the civil tranquility offered by a monarch. Rousseau asserts that this promise of civil tranquility becomes insignificant when kings drag their countries into the many wars and place unnecessary demands on their citizens. Even if a person willingly gives up their own liberty, he cannot offer the freedom of his children without their approval. Therefore, such a society to be legitimate, each generation must offer their expressed approval of

The relationship between ruler and subject is identical to the relationship between father and child.The ruler looked after for his subjects and had unlimited rights over them. This kind of reasoning assumed the natural superiority of rulers over the ruled. Such superiority is created by force, not by nature, so political authority has no basis in nature. The children only stay attached to the father until they no longer need his preservation; after this need is meet the natural bond is diminished. “This common liberty results from the nature of man.His first law is to provide for his own preservation, his first cares are those which he owes to himself; as soon as he reaches years of discretion, he is the sole judge of the proper means of preserving himself, and consequently becoming his own