Rousseau

POLITICAL THOUGHT

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Rousseau (1712 - 1778)

INTRODUCTION –
• He was born on June 28, 1712 in Geneva.

• He is regarded as the intellectual Father of French Revolution.

• Rousseau was the third social contract thinker and first to offer a strong critique of modern social and
political institutions in the name of modern values of equality, liberty and democracy.

• He emphasize on the fundamental divide between the Society and human nature and belief that in State
of nature man was good but got corrupted by the artificiality of society, thus, attack the institution of
private property.

• He also made an appeal for human equality in Society and tried to reconcile liberty with equality.

• Rousseau advocated the notion of General will as the real basis of legitimate power and authority.

• He sought to defend simplicity, innocence, virtue for the development of the potentialities of human
nature.

His major works

• Discourse on the Arts and Sciences, published in 1750 in which he stated that ‘Our souls have been
corrupted in proportion to the advancement of our sciences and our arts towards perfection ‘.

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• Discourse on the Origin and Basis of Inequality also known as Second Discourse published in 1755 in
which he described human nature in state of nature, establishment of civil Society and concluded
private property as the original source and basis of all inequalities.

• Discourse on Political Economy which was published in 1755 and is about the concept of democratic
ideals .

• Emile published in 1762 written on the nature and institutional arrangements on Education. It served as
the inspiration for New National system of Education during the French Revolution.

• The Social Contract published in 1762 which propounded the notion of General Will as the basis of all
legitimate power and authority.

ON ENLIGHTENMENT -
• The Enlightenment referred to the series of dramatic revolution in science , philosophy and politics in
European thought and culture. During the Eighteenth century, thinkers stressed on the need to apply
scientific methods and perceiving reason as the best guide for conducting life.

• Rousseau was against this intelligence, science and reason as he felt that they were responsible for
destroying faith and moral institutions of society.

• He regarded ‘thinking animal as a depraved animal’ because Reason suppressed and distorted natural
responses like sympathy and pity.

• He dismissed modern society that was based on reason as false and artificial as it destroyed natural and
true culture of the Society

ROUSSEAU’S POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY

STATE OF NATURE -
• Rousseau has presented his ideas on 'state of nature' first in his book 'Discourses on Inequality' (1755) and
then in his 'Social Contract' (1762).

(i) Noble Savage

• According to Rousseau 'state of nature' is a state of 'Idyllic Blissfulness'.

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• He argued that man was a noble savage in a primitive state of nature, he was free to choose, consume and
live.

• The concept of status, power, hierarchy all emerged with the rise of society.

• It was society and science, the increasing population and growing conflicts that led to degeneration of
noble savage.

• This romantic 'Natural Man' who was free and happy was enslaved by the growth of civilization

(ii) 'amour de soi' vs 'amour propre’

• For Rousseau, man before the origin of society was in a condition of 'amour de soi' which stands for self-
preservation, maintenance and fulfillment of one's own needs through the help of nature.

• As the French word 'amour' stands for 'love‘.

• Rousseau argued that with the emergence of society the 'amour de soi' degenerated into 'amour propre'.

• The 'amour propre' reflects a possessive version of 'self-love', when man's love is judged by its
comparative worth.

• The cutthroat competition and race for resources has 'inflamed' and the inflamed version is dangerous for
the greater good of mankind.

PRIVATE PROPERTY
• With the Rise of civilization that lead to discovery of metals and agriculture which resulted in division of
labour and the institution of private property came into existence.

• Private property was owned by few people and its acquisition created inequality in Society. Thus , a civil
Society was formed for the selfish interest of the individual for protecting their property.

• Private property led to the distinction between the rich and the poor and over time economic inequality
became extreme to the point that rich came up with the idea of Government, law and administration in
everybody’s interest.

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ANALYSIS OF INEQUALITY -
Rousseau in his work 'Discourse on Inequality' challenged the notion of inequality. Perhaps, he was the first
thinker to strongly advocate for equality in society. He creatively divided inequalities into two categories:

1. Natural Inequalities: Those are irreconcilable and unalterable. E.g., colour, gender, physical appearance
etc.

2. Conventional Inequalities: Not natural but a construct of society. These are alterable. E.g., social
inequalities, income and wealth inequalities etc.

THE SOCIAL CONTRACT -

• In the Social Contract, Rousseau asserted that a Polity will upheld the general interests of its members and
it will transform the noble Savage into a humane person.

• He held that nothing was dearer to a person than liberty, thus , the right kind of Society would enhance
human freedom by governing through the “General Will".

• For Rousseau, the main motive behind the contract was to reconcile liberty with authority, thus, regarded
Consent as the basis of Society.

• He sought to emphasize that the community was established to benefit the individual by upholding its
freedom.

• The community is represented by the best individual as it is vested with the General Will of all the
Individuals who are thinking of General and Public interests rather than their selfish interests.

GENERAL WILL
• The General Will be the source of all laws. Thus, only legislative will could be a General Will that is
embodied in Direct Democracy.

• Rousseau made a distinction between two types of will of an Individual .

1. Actual Will – It is motivated by the immediate and selfish interest of an individual.

2. Real Will – It is motivated by the ultimate and Collective good of all Individuals.

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• Hence, General will reconcile the interests of each with those of all by converging the real will of all
individuals.

• He held that the main objective of making the General Will as Sovereign was to protect Individual Liberty
which cannot exist without equality. More precisely he is referring to the economic equality because
without it social and political equality is not possible.

• Rousseau states that for the General will to be truly general, it must be general in -

i) Origin, that means everyone in the society must have a voice in the decision taken up by the
general will; for instance, everyone must have the right to vote which expresses his decisions.

ii) Object , that means people must be thinking about the General or common good when making a
decision or policy for the Society .

POPULAR SOVEREIGNTY
• Rousseau's 'popular sovereignty' is a very peculiar and different concept. He doesn't provide for any third
party sovereign; rather he asked for transfer of full authority from 'individual capacity' to 'corporate
capacity' governed by people itself. He provides for no natural right, no right to revolution. In other words,
Rousseau's popular sovereignty is Hobbes' Leviathan with its head chopped. Features of his popular
sovereignty are:

1. No Master: The instance where there is a master, there is no sovereign.

2. Inalienable: "...because it is a collective authority, it is vested in the whole society.“

3. Indivisible: Sovereignty for the very same reason as making it inalienable is indivisible.

4. Illimitable: All rights are vested in 'sovereign community', no question of limit arises.

5. Infallible: Sovereignty represents 'General Will' which is a combination of all the 'Real Wills', hence,
cannot be false.

6. No representation: "The moment people allow themselves to be represented, they are no longer
free."

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CRITIQUE OF LIBERAL REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT -

• He held the English Parliamentary System of Government only give illusion of freedom to the people but in
reality English people were only free during the time of elections and once they elect their Representatives
they lost their freedom.

• Therefore, he advocated Direct Democracy as in it people were actually free by taking part in the process
of law making.

• He suggested Participatory Democracy as it secures freedom, self rule, equality and virtue of an Individual .

ON FAMILY AND WOMEN –

• Like Aristotle, Rousseau regarded the family as the first form of society and sought to defend the
Patriarchal family .

• He held family as a natural institution ; the oldest of all societies and is based on natural ties, love,
affection and natural differences between the sexes

• He assigned a subordinate position to the women in Society same as held by them in a family whose
authority lies with the Male .

• He wanted women to be represented by men in a liberal democracy and wanted women to stay away
from politics as he was afraid that they will always put the interests of their families before that of public;
they cannot transcends their love and affection from particular to general.

FAMOUS QUOTES -
• ‘Man is born free and everywhere is in chains’.

• ‘I prefer liberty with danger than peace with slavery’.

• ‘I would rather be a man of paradoxes than a man of prejudices’.

• ‘No man has any natural authority over his fellow men’.

• ‘Our greatest evils flows from ourselves’.

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• ‘Everyman has a right to risk his own life for the preservation of it’.

• ‘What wisdom can you find that is greater than kindness’.

• ‘The strongest is never strong enough to be always the master, unless he transforms strength into right,
and obedience into duty’.

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