Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Social Contract

State

"In this state, he deprives himself of some advantages which he got from nature, he gains in return others so great, his faculties are so stimulated and developed, his ideas so extended, his feelings so ennobled, and his whole soul so uplifted, that, did not the abuses of this new condition often degrade him below that which he left, he would be bound to bless continually the happy moment which took him from it for ever, and, instead of a stupid and unimaginative animal, made him an intelligent being and a man"

Citizen

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Moral equality

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Natural equality

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Subject

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"Formal equality"

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Civil virtue

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The Legislator

Because the populace often does not know how to pursue the common good, Rousseau asserts that there must be a guide to help the people in making the law. This guide, who Rousseau calls the "legislator," ensures that the law supports the preservation of the state. The legislator protects the law from being manipulated by private wills, and also aids the people in weighing the short-term benefits of a decision against its long-term costs The legislator is in a position to transform human nature, to substitute a moral existence for a physical one in the state of nature, and to strengthen the power of the state

Sovereign

In a healthy republic, Rousseau defines the sovereign as all the citizens acting collectively. Together, they voice the general will and the laws of the state. The sovereign cannot be represented, divided, or broken up in any way: only all the people speaking collectively can be sovereign.

State of nature

In the state of nature, we are free to do whatever we want, but our desires and impulses are not tempered by reason. We have physical freedom but we lack morality and rationality. Still, Rousseau believed that this state of nature was better than the slavery of his contemporary society.

Moral liberty

Moral liberty "alone make man truly the master of himself. For to be driven by appetite alone is slavery, and obedience to the law one has prescribed to oneself is liberty" One acquires moral liberty in the civil society

Representation

Often, a population that does not want to assemble to exercise legislative power elect representatives to do their work for them. Rousseau remarks that a state begins to dissolve when the people value comfort over freedom, and pay representatives and mercenaries rather than serve the state themselves. Rousseau derisively speaks of "finance" as the practice of letting one's wallet replace one's duty as a citizen. Representation is a modern idea that evolved from feudalism, and Rousseau re-asserts that sovereignty cannot be represented.

Social compact

The agreement with which a person enters into civil society. The contract essentially binds people into a community that exists for mutual preservation. In entering into civil society, people sacrifice the physical freedom of being able to do whatever they please, but they gain the civil freedom of being able to think and act rationally and morally. Rousseau believes that only by entering into the social contract can we become fully human.

Natural liberty

The natural rights given up in exchange for civil rights and civil liberty in a civil society. We lose the physical liberty of being able to follow our instincts freely and do whatever we please

Civil religion

The one way in which Rousseau finds religion useful to a civil society, in that he finds it useful for social bond. His logic goes as follows: 1) God exists 2) There is belief in life to come 3) Justice for the good, punishment for the wicked 4) Belief in sanctity of social contract (compact) and laws 5) No intolerance (helps stop civil unrest)

Civil liberty

The replacement of natural liberty, civil liberty places the limits of reason and the general will on our behavior, thereby rendering us moral. In civil society, we take responsibility for our actions, and become nobler as a result.

Will of all

The sum total of each individual's particular will. In a healthy state, the will of all is the same thing as the general will, since each citizen wills the common good. However, in a state where people value their personal interests over the interests of the state, the will of all may differ significantly from the general will.

Remarkable change

The transition from the state of nature to civil society produces a remarkable change in man "by substituting justice for instinct in his conduct, and giving his actions the morality they had formerly lacked". Now man consults reason! "His faculties are so stimulated and developed, his ideas so extended, his feelings so ennobled, and his whole soul so uplifted"

General will

The will of the sovereign that aims at the common good. Each individual has his own particular will that expresses what is best for him. The general will expresses what is best for the state as a whole.

Government

This is the executive power of a state, which takes care of particular matters and day-to-day business. There are as many different kinds of government as there are states, though they can be roughly divided into democracy (the rule of the many), aristocracy (the rule of the few), and monarchy (the rule of a single individual). The government represents the people: it is not sovereign, and it cannot speak for the general will. It has its own corporate will that is often at odds with the general will. For this reason, there is often friction between the government and the sovereign that can bring about the downfall of the state.

Private will

What individuals want for themselves within the general will. This leads to factions and ignorance, and can distort the goal for the common good within the general will.