Rousseau s The Social Contract - 1588 Words

The following texts, Rousseau s The Social Contract, Marx’s Private Property and Communism, Estranged Labor and Money, all differentiate between a general will, and a more personal, individual will. However, Rousseau’s and Marx’s theories of a general will, or collective being have discrepancies in both the origin and implications of general will and individual will. Rousseau defines general will as a collective desire to advance society towards a common goal. However, Rousseau warns that ignoring the general will and pursuing one’s own selfish personal will is dangerous not only for an individual, but can also ultimately lead to the destruction of the body politic. Marx also discusses a concept similar to Rousseau’s general will, however†¦show more content†¦Additionally, Rousseau believes that self-interests are often detrimental to the common good, stating that â€Å"each individual, as a man, may have a particular will contrary or diss imilar to the general will which he has as a citizen. His particular interest may speak to him quite differently from the common interest: his absolute and naturally independent existence may make him look upon what he owes to the common cause as a gratuitous contribution... The continuance of such an injustice could not but prove the undoing of the body politic. (Rousseau, 194-195). It is evident that Rousseau is aware of humankind’s selfish desires stemming from a personal will, and he believes that if individuals begin to ignore the common will and instead act upon their personal desires and will, that it will often lead to pandemonium. This chaos is likely to destroy any Republic, as conflicting and selfish ideals will cause individuals to lose sight of the general will, leading to the collapse of a coexisting society. Rousseau, however, does not address how individual will originates, a point that Marx discusses in length in his Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts. The epitome of the detrimental effects caused by one acting purely on personal will can be seen in the film, American Beauty. In this film, Lester Burnham can be seen acting upon his personal will and ignoring the collective good in hisShow MoreRelatedThe Rousseau s Thesis And Social Contract1548 Words   |  7 PagesTo better understand Rousseau’s thesis and social contract he proposed, we must first understand why Rousseau felt compelled to write and his main criticism of society during the 18th century. In sum, Rousseau argued that states (specifically France, though never explicitly stated) have not protected man’s right to freedom or equality. 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Rousseau states, that naturalRead MoreRousseau, Mill, And Constant Articulated By Unpacking Essay1656 Words   |  7 Pagesdistinctively different. Rousseau, Mill, and Constant exhibit a very different view of the modernizing society. This paper seeks to flash out the distinct visions of liberty that Rousseau, Mill, and Constant articulated by unpacking the central premises of each argument, pitting them against each other through comparing and contrasting. Although, Rousseau distinguishes two specific types of liberty, natural liberty and civil liberty. Natural liberty, Rousseau states, is the freedomRead MoreJean Jacques Rousseau And The Declaration Of Independence Essay1459 Words   |  6 PagesJean-Jacques Rousseau was an Enlightenment thinker during the eighteenth century and is most noted for his work The Social Contract. The Social Contract published in 1762 and is a philosophical document that expresses the ideas of popular sovereignty. Popular Sovereignty is a form of government in which â€Å"the doctrine that sovereign power is vested in the people and that those chosen to govern, as trustees of such power, must exercise it in conformity with the general will.† This is basically a fancy