[.ca] Penguin Classics Social Contract (ISBN 0140442014)

The Social Contract by Rousseau:
This work attests to the application of human freedoms within the context of organizational structures and governmental institutions . The author explains how the general or collective will intervenes when it is proper to do so. In addition, the will is believed to be omnipotent. In the long run, states tend to act in ways that promote self-preservation and perpetuation. Governments are divided into democracies, monarchies, royalties and in other organizational frameworks consistent with accomplishing a variety of missions. The State is far removed from the family. Nevertheless, it is charged with promulgating laws and conventions agreeable to the general or collective will. This work is an important contribution to comparative governmental organizations and structures. It explains the applicable rationale for implementing political distinctions of virtually every variety and type.

Influential and interesting book:
Deeply influential book, "The Social Contract" is a "must read" for anybody interested in the history of political ideas, or even in history. It had a big influence on the French Revolution, and in many movements after it that considered that the individual owes everything to the state. After reading this book you will be astounded by the insight that Rousseau (1712-1778) showed. He explains us, among other things, the reason for the formation of political society, and the origin of the social contract. I believe this is a good book to start a study on political ideas. It is simple and well written, it has had an important political impact and can make you curious enough to know more. If you are interested, read also a book about the history of political ideas (for example the one written by George Sabine), because it can guide you to other interesting books, and can give you a deeper insight into the ideas, circumstances and life of Rousseau.

Great Intellectual:
Jean Jacques Rousseau is truly a great intellectual.His Discourses and The Social Contract are some of the best in Enlightenment thinking. In the Discourses Rousseau exalts the "noble" savage free from the corrupting influence of modern civilization. He believes that civilization has corrupted man from his original, yet ignorant state. I found the Discourses to be a little flighty and unrealistic. The Social Contract was a different story altogether. This is a monumental work. In it Rousseau shows his vast knowledge of the Roman Republic and Empire and the reasons for it's rise and collapse. Rousseau also denounces monarchy and aristocracy as forms of government and exalts republicanism. He also decries the power of organized religion in the oppression of mankind. With his "General Will" theory of the social contract he shows true brilliance. A great buy.

Alexis de Tocqueville's Nemesis:
'The tyranny of the majority' - a brilliant phrase coined by the author of 'Democracy In America' and a brilliant chink in the armour of Rousseau's societal vision. An individual who owes everything to the state cannot conceivably be called an 'individual.' They are, rather, reduced to being an automated cog in the wheel of human motion. Their very individuality is subsumed to serve the will of the collective. This cannot be right. Minorities must be protected. If not, they will find a way. However, I agree, as Orwell did, that there must be a rejection of 'every form of man's dominion over man.' We are equal but different. This paradox resists neat hyperbole.

A Valuable Piece of History...:
This is a valuable historical document, because it shows us the thinking that led up to the French Revolution. Rousseau wrote: "Man was born free, and he is everywhere in chains." What Rousseau means by this is that Man is born free in the State of Nature - it is society, government, and urban life that are the corruptive forces. Without those things, Rousseau argues, man would exist in peaceful co-habitation. What is striking to the modern reader about this claim is how blatantly wrong it is. Rousseau was trying to refute Thomas Hobbes who wrote that the State of Nature is the same as the State of War. Apparently Hobbes got the better of the argument because, as soon as the French Revolution took effect, peaceful liberty went out the window in favor of the Reign of Terror. But, back to Rousseau. He claims that, even though men in nature peacefully co-exist, it is more beneficial for them to come together to form a society. Thus they SHOULD come together and form a Social Contract. The ideal contract for Rousseau would entail the individual GIVING UP ALL HIS RIGHTS on entering the contract with the understanding that he will get them all back from the Sovereign. Who is the Sovereign? Well, for Rousseau, the Sovereign is the People. If Rousseau's Ideal State were an organism, it would be a large one-celled organism with no differentiation. This is very much unlike Hobbes' Leviathan, with the Sovereign at the head and each part assigned its individual task. For Rousseau, only the SOCIETY AS A WHOLE has the right to govern. Of course, this system is incredibly unwieldy, that is why - in Rousseau's world - there are a whole bunch of little city-states, like ancient Athens. HERE COMES THE SCARY PART. Once the whole population gets together and makes a decision, that decision is infallible. "THE GENERAL WILL CANNOT BE WRONG." Those minorities who are disaffected by this general rule shall be "FORCED TO BE FREE." In the case of the French Revolution, that was the freedom of one's head from one's shoulders. According to Simon Schama in his wonderful book, Citizens, the importance of the Social Contract has been overestimated. Rousseau's love of the State of Nature (which was the spirit of the French Revolution) had more of an effect on the public through his novels Emile and La Nouvelle Heloise. The Social Contract must be viewed in its historical context as a piece of history in itself. If one reads it for philosophic reasons only, it will come of sounding either frightening or painfully naïve. One sentence caught my imagination however - Rousseau saw the island of Corsica as the perfect candidate for his ideal state. "I have a presentiment that this little island will one day astonish Europe." It did. It produced the greatest warlord the world had ever seen - Napoleon.