Rousseau’s Philosophy: State of Nature, Society, and Social Contract
Introduction
As a critic of society, Jean-Jacques Rousseau explored the tension between civilization and human nature. He argued that while society offers certain conveniences, it also weakens and makes individuals dependent on others. Once humanity leaves the state of nature, there is no return, only the possibility of exchanging natural liberty for civil freedom.
The Natural Man
Rousseau posited that in the state of nature, humans are guided by self-preservation and empathy, living simple lives threatened only by disease and old age. He identified freedom and perfectibility (the drive for self-improvement) as distinctive human traits. However, he paradoxically viewed perfectibility as the root of all evil. In the absence of social relations, there are neither vices nor virtues, and thus no morality.
Civil Society and Property
Rousseau believed that inequality began when individuals claimed ownership of land. The transition to civil society was gradual, marked by the development of language, tools, and the formation of families. This led to social comparisons, self-esteem, vanity, contempt, shame, and envy. Economic dependencies arose with agriculture and metallurgy, exacerbating inequality and conflict. Civil society was born from a desire to protect property, but this ‘false covenant’ destroyed natural freedom.
Rousseau’s Social Contract
Rousseau argued that while natural liberty is lost forever, civil liberty can be achieved through a social contract. Unlike Hobbes’s absolute monarchy, Rousseau proposed a pact based on free association, where individuals retain their humanity while gaining civil freedom (freedom under law). This involves creating a general will, a collective force representing the sum of individual wills.
“Finding a form of association which defends and protects the common force the person and property of each partner, and why each one, joining the others, but does not obey the same and stay well, therefore, as free as before.”
By obeying the general will, individuals guarantee their freedom because they are obeying a force of which they are active members. This contract requires the complete surrender of each individual’s rights to the community, creating a level playing field and mitigating physical and intellectual disparities. The resulting general will is guided by three principles:
- Freedom
- Equality
- Fraternity
The essence of the covenant is:
- The delivery of each person and power to the general will.
- Each member is an indivisible part of all.