Social Contract Jean Jacques Rousseau's Term Paper

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He based his theories and ideas on these laws and his property related theories also related to the same ideals. Rousseau differed with Locke in his perception of the ideal government. His work 'Social Contract' dealt with the issues related to governments, society, people and property. "Rousseau was one of the first modern writers to seriously attack the institution of private property, and therefore is sometimes considered a forebear of modern socialism and communism. Rousseau also questioned the assumption that majority will is always correct. He argued that the goal of government should be to secure freedom, equality, and justice for all within the state, regardless of the will of the majority" ('Jean-Jacques Rousseau').

If God were considered the supreme lawgiver, then Rousseau's sovereign power in this world would be a person who is assigned the task of implementing those laws to construct a livable society. This man would help in "transforming each individual who by himself is a perfect and solitary whole into part of a larger whole" (SC, p. 69). And he would be considered everything a sovereign power "ought to be" (SC, p.

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52) Thus such a person will protect the natural rights of each individual and provide him guidance in matters of general will since people may not have the ability to understand what is good or best for him: "Each individual, appreciating no other scheme of government than that which bears directly on his particular interest, has difficulty perceiving the advantages he is supposed to derive from the constant privations required by good laws" (SC, pp. 70-71)

Rousseau was essentially against any social order that curtailed personal freedom or natural liberty. His social contract theory was not based on compromise of all rights but on relinquishing of only those rights, which fell in the social sphere or could have an impact on the rights of the community. Rousseau's social contract theory shaped modern political thought and is still commonly cited when democracy and rights are discussed......

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