Unit 4: "The Social Contract"

Author Bio: Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) was part of the Enlightenment. Rousseau was known for his ideas on man was disorder, anarchy, and selfish but they could put that all aside if they wanted government to work. He did not believe in the divine right of kings and thought government was to enforce the will of the people and ensure natural rights. Most of his works criticized the education system and social conventions of the time.

Date/Context: Rousseau was tired of the constraints of society in the education systems and social conventions. He wanted men to have the only bondage be the bondage of natural necessity and this freedom would lead to their happiness. He found the the people controlling the government seemed to put them in a state far worse than the good one they were at in the state of nature. He outlined a system that would be for the common good and that would solve what he called the concerns of the time.

Summary: Rousseau outlined that unless the human race was to perish, they must change their manner of life.this change is an assemblage of forces that produces the liberty of men but how can you do that without the men remaining as free as before, this is the question the Social Contract answers. All tricked of the Social Contract have a single point, the total alienation of each associate, and all his rights, to the whole community and every individual gives himself to all but not to any individual. The public and individuals must work together for this to work. By violating the contract, a sovereign would be annihilated and the whole United body is one, what you do to one is done to all.

Key Quotations:

• “Where shall we find a form of association which will defend and protect with the whole aggregate force the person and the property of each individual; and by which every person, while united with all, shall obey himself, and remain as free as before the union?” 
• “The man who had till then regarded none but himself, perceives that he must act on other principles, and learns to consult his reason before he listens to his propensities.”