J. J. ROUSSEAU (1712 – 1778)
Jean Jacques Rousseau was one of the greatest political philosopher that the French has
produced. In the entire history of political theory he was the most exciting and provocative. He was
a genius and a keen moralist who was ruthless in his criticism of 18th century French society. Hewas one of the most controversial thinkers, as evident from the conflicting, contradictory and often
diametrically opposite interpretations that existed of the nature and importance of his ideas. He is
best remembered for his concept of popular sovereignty, and the theory of general will which
provide a philosophical justification for democratic governance. He was the intellectual father of the
French Revolution as well as the last and perhaps the greatest of the modern contract theorists.
Rousseau was born in Geneva to an artisan family. His mother died of complications arising
from his birth, a tragedy that filled Rousseau with a lifelong sense of guilt and in all probability lay
behind much of his neurotic behaviour and personal unhappiness. As a young man he ws
apprenticed in several trades, and in 1728 he set out for a period of travel during which he
engaged in an extensive process of self- education. He was not like Hobbes and Locke, formally
trained in the university, nor did he consider himself a philosopher in any formal sense.
CRITIQUE OF CIVILISATION
Rousseau protested against intelligence, science and reason in so far as they destroyed
reverence faith and moral intuition, the factors on which society was based. His protest was a “revolt
against reason, for he regarded the thinking animal as a depraved, animal”. His conviction was
reflected by his unhappiness with Grotius, because his usual method of reasoning is constantly to
establish right by face.
Rousseau attacked civilisation and enlightenment in a prize winning essay written in 1749
on the question : Has the progress of science and arts contributed to corrupt or purify morality?
Rousseau argued that science was not saving but bring moral ruin upon us. Progress was an
illusion, what appeared to be advancement was in reality regression. The arts of civilised society
served only to ‘ cast garlands of followers over the chains men bore . The development of modern
civilisation had not made men either happier or more virtuous. In the modern sophisticated society
man was corrupted, the greater the sophistication the greater the corruption. Rousseau wrote thus :
“our minds have been corrupted in proportion as the arts and science have improved”.
GENERAL WILL
The doctrine of general will occupies a prominent place in Rousseau’s political philosophy In
the Discourse on Political Economy Rousseau had already dealt with the problem of general will. He
sees the body politic’ “possessed of a will and this general will, which tends always to the
preservation and welfare of the whole and of every part, and is the source of the laws, constitutes
for all the members of the state in their relation to one another and to it, the rule of what is just or
unjust”. By introducing the concept of General Will, Rousseau fundamentally alters the mechanistic
concept of the state as an instrument and revives the organic theory of the state, which goes back
to Plato and Aristotle.
In order to understand the meaning and importance of general will it is necessary to
understand the meanings of related terms and concepts. According to Rousseau, the actual will of
the individual is his impulsive and irrational will. It is based on self- interest and is not related to the
well-being of the society. Such a will is narrow an self conflicting. The real will of the individual is
on the other hand, rational will which aims at the general happiness of the community. The real will
promotes harmony between the individuals in society. Rousseau believes that an average man has
both an actual and real will.
The general will is the sum total of or rather synthesis of the real wills of the individuals in
society. It represents the common consciousness of the common good after proper discussion and
deliberation. The chief attribute of the general will not it was sovereign power but pursuit of
common interests and its public spiritedness. The character of the general will is determined by
two elements: first it aims at the general good, and second, it must come from all and apply to all.
The first refers to the object of the will; the second, to its origin.
CHARACTERISTICS OF GENERAL WILL
The following are some of the important features of general will . Firstly, Rousseau’s general will is
permanent It is rational and not impulsive. It is not eternal but permanent and imparts stability to
national institutions. Secondly, Rousseau locates sovereignty in the general will. General will and
sovereignty are inalienable just as life of the individual is inalienable. Whereas in Locke the people
transfer the exercise of their sovereign authority, legislative, executive and judicial to organs of
government, Rousseau’s concept of inalienable and indivisible sovereignty does not permit the
people to transfer their legislative function, the supreme authority in the state As to the executive
and judicial functions, Rousseau realises that they have to be exercised by special organs of
government but they are completely subordinate to the sovereign people.
Thirdly, Rousseau’s general will is unitary because it is not self contradictory. It gives a touch of
unity to national character. Nextly, general will is unrepresent able because sovereignty lies in the
community which is a collective body and cannot be represented but by itself: As soon as a nation
appoints representatives, it is no longer free, it no longer exists.
Finally, the general will is infallible. Rousseau means little more than that the general will
must always seek the general good. He says the general will is always right and tends to the public
advantage. If the general will is always right, it is not always known. It does not follow that the
deliberations of the people are always equally correct.
Rousseau saw the government as an agent of the General will, the sovereign entity in the
body polity. Like Montesquieu, he believed all forms of government were not suited to all countries.
A government had to reflect the character of a country and its people.
SOCIAL CONTRACT
Though Rousseau criticised civil society, he did not suggest man to choose the savage
existence, as some of his contemporaries mistook him. The main concern of the social contract is
the central issue of all political speculation: Political obligation. ‘The Problem’ Rousseau says’ “is
to find a form of association which will defend and protect with the whole common force the
person and goods of each associate, and in which each while uniting himself with all may still obey
himself along, and remain as free as before”.
Like his predecessors, Rousseau uses the conceptions of the state of nature and the social
contract that puts to end to it. Rousseau’s conception of man’s life in the state of nature is not
quite so gloomy as that of Hobbes’ nor as optimistic as that of Locke. Each man pursues his selfinterest
in the state of nature until he discovers that his power to preserve himself individually
against the threats and hindrances of others is not strong enough Rousseau’s social contract opens
thus: ‘ Man is born free and he is everywhere in chains’ His purpose is how to make the chains
legitimate in place of the illegitimate chains of the contemporary society.
The purpose of the social contract is thus to combine security which comes from collective
association, with liberty which the individual had before the making of the contract. But the social
contract consists in the total alienation of each associate, together with all his rights, to the whole
community.’ Each man gives himself to all, he gives himself to nobody in particular.
ASSESSMENT
There was no denying the fact that Rousseau‘s political philosophy was one of the most
innovative striking and brilliant argued theories. His most important achievement was that he
understood the pivotal problem that faced individuals in society - how to reconcile individual
interests with those of the larger interests of the society. Rousseau is the first modern writer to
attempt, not always successfully to synthesise good government with self government in the key
concept of General will.
Rousseau’s influence has changed over the last three centuries. In the 18th century he was
seen as critique of the statusquo, challenging the concept of progress, the core of the
enlightenment belief structure. In the 19th century, he was seen as the apostle of the French
revolution and the founder of the romantic movement. In the 20th century he has been hailed as the
founder of democratic tradition, while at the same time assailed for being the philosophical
inspiration of totalitarianism.
So this is all about my article.
Jean Jacques Rousseau was one of the greatest political philosopher that the French has
produced. In the entire history of political theory he was the most exciting and provocative. He was
a genius and a keen moralist who was ruthless in his criticism of 18th century French society. Hewas one of the most controversial thinkers, as evident from the conflicting, contradictory and often
diametrically opposite interpretations that existed of the nature and importance of his ideas. He is
best remembered for his concept of popular sovereignty, and the theory of general will which
provide a philosophical justification for democratic governance. He was the intellectual father of the
French Revolution as well as the last and perhaps the greatest of the modern contract theorists.
Rousseau was born in Geneva to an artisan family. His mother died of complications arising
from his birth, a tragedy that filled Rousseau with a lifelong sense of guilt and in all probability lay
behind much of his neurotic behaviour and personal unhappiness. As a young man he ws
apprenticed in several trades, and in 1728 he set out for a period of travel during which he
engaged in an extensive process of self- education. He was not like Hobbes and Locke, formally
trained in the university, nor did he consider himself a philosopher in any formal sense.
CRITIQUE OF CIVILISATION
Rousseau protested against intelligence, science and reason in so far as they destroyed
reverence faith and moral intuition, the factors on which society was based. His protest was a “revolt
against reason, for he regarded the thinking animal as a depraved, animal”. His conviction was
reflected by his unhappiness with Grotius, because his usual method of reasoning is constantly to
establish right by face.
Rousseau attacked civilisation and enlightenment in a prize winning essay written in 1749
on the question : Has the progress of science and arts contributed to corrupt or purify morality?
Rousseau argued that science was not saving but bring moral ruin upon us. Progress was an
illusion, what appeared to be advancement was in reality regression. The arts of civilised society
served only to ‘ cast garlands of followers over the chains men bore . The development of modern
civilisation had not made men either happier or more virtuous. In the modern sophisticated society
man was corrupted, the greater the sophistication the greater the corruption. Rousseau wrote thus :
“our minds have been corrupted in proportion as the arts and science have improved”.
GENERAL WILL
The doctrine of general will occupies a prominent place in Rousseau’s political philosophy In
the Discourse on Political Economy Rousseau had already dealt with the problem of general will. He
sees the body politic’ “possessed of a will and this general will, which tends always to the
preservation and welfare of the whole and of every part, and is the source of the laws, constitutes
for all the members of the state in their relation to one another and to it, the rule of what is just or
unjust”. By introducing the concept of General Will, Rousseau fundamentally alters the mechanistic
concept of the state as an instrument and revives the organic theory of the state, which goes back
to Plato and Aristotle.
In order to understand the meaning and importance of general will it is necessary to
understand the meanings of related terms and concepts. According to Rousseau, the actual will of
the individual is his impulsive and irrational will. It is based on self- interest and is not related to the
well-being of the society. Such a will is narrow an self conflicting. The real will of the individual is
on the other hand, rational will which aims at the general happiness of the community. The real will
promotes harmony between the individuals in society. Rousseau believes that an average man has
both an actual and real will.
The general will is the sum total of or rather synthesis of the real wills of the individuals in
society. It represents the common consciousness of the common good after proper discussion and
deliberation. The chief attribute of the general will not it was sovereign power but pursuit of
common interests and its public spiritedness. The character of the general will is determined by
two elements: first it aims at the general good, and second, it must come from all and apply to all.
The first refers to the object of the will; the second, to its origin.
CHARACTERISTICS OF GENERAL WILL
The following are some of the important features of general will . Firstly, Rousseau’s general will is
permanent It is rational and not impulsive. It is not eternal but permanent and imparts stability to
national institutions. Secondly, Rousseau locates sovereignty in the general will. General will and
sovereignty are inalienable just as life of the individual is inalienable. Whereas in Locke the people
transfer the exercise of their sovereign authority, legislative, executive and judicial to organs of
government, Rousseau’s concept of inalienable and indivisible sovereignty does not permit the
people to transfer their legislative function, the supreme authority in the state As to the executive
and judicial functions, Rousseau realises that they have to be exercised by special organs of
government but they are completely subordinate to the sovereign people.
Thirdly, Rousseau’s general will is unitary because it is not self contradictory. It gives a touch of
unity to national character. Nextly, general will is unrepresent able because sovereignty lies in the
community which is a collective body and cannot be represented but by itself: As soon as a nation
appoints representatives, it is no longer free, it no longer exists.
Finally, the general will is infallible. Rousseau means little more than that the general will
must always seek the general good. He says the general will is always right and tends to the public
advantage. If the general will is always right, it is not always known. It does not follow that the
deliberations of the people are always equally correct.
Rousseau saw the government as an agent of the General will, the sovereign entity in the
body polity. Like Montesquieu, he believed all forms of government were not suited to all countries.
A government had to reflect the character of a country and its people.
SOCIAL CONTRACT
Though Rousseau criticised civil society, he did not suggest man to choose the savage
existence, as some of his contemporaries mistook him. The main concern of the social contract is
the central issue of all political speculation: Political obligation. ‘The Problem’ Rousseau says’ “is
to find a form of association which will defend and protect with the whole common force the
person and goods of each associate, and in which each while uniting himself with all may still obey
himself along, and remain as free as before”.
Like his predecessors, Rousseau uses the conceptions of the state of nature and the social
contract that puts to end to it. Rousseau’s conception of man’s life in the state of nature is not
quite so gloomy as that of Hobbes’ nor as optimistic as that of Locke. Each man pursues his selfinterest
in the state of nature until he discovers that his power to preserve himself individually
against the threats and hindrances of others is not strong enough Rousseau’s social contract opens
thus: ‘ Man is born free and he is everywhere in chains’ His purpose is how to make the chains
legitimate in place of the illegitimate chains of the contemporary society.
The purpose of the social contract is thus to combine security which comes from collective
association, with liberty which the individual had before the making of the contract. But the social
contract consists in the total alienation of each associate, together with all his rights, to the whole
community.’ Each man gives himself to all, he gives himself to nobody in particular.
ASSESSMENT
There was no denying the fact that Rousseau‘s political philosophy was one of the most
innovative striking and brilliant argued theories. His most important achievement was that he
understood the pivotal problem that faced individuals in society - how to reconcile individual
interests with those of the larger interests of the society. Rousseau is the first modern writer to
attempt, not always successfully to synthesise good government with self government in the key
concept of General will.
Rousseau’s influence has changed over the last three centuries. In the 18th century he was
seen as critique of the statusquo, challenging the concept of progress, the core of the
enlightenment belief structure. In the 19th century, he was seen as the apostle of the French
revolution and the founder of the romantic movement. In the 20th century he has been hailed as the
founder of democratic tradition, while at the same time assailed for being the philosophical
inspiration of totalitarianism.
So this is all about my article.
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