Rousseau’s Ideas Nikita Warren Southern New Hampshire University March 26 2020 Rousseau’s Ideas The necessity of freedom Freedom is a problem of political philosophy Freedom is needed for two reasons: “Natural man is physically free because he is not constrained by a repressive state apparatus or dominated by his fellow men” (Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778) , n.d) “Natural man is psychologically and spiritually free because he is not enslaved to any of the artificial needs that characterize modern society” (Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778) , n.d) Modern society is different form the previous uncorrupted society where man lived favorably with the state of nature despite having the freedom and liberty to do what they wished Rousseau was concerned with the nature of freedom. in his general argument, man was previously living in harmony with the nature because he had not become a slave to his own needs. As the needs of man evolved so did his means of interaction with nature and in this case, man used his freedom to do himself good and do good to others. However, the modern society is made up of men who have become slaves to their own needs. Man is therefore responsible for the present problems of exploitation, domination, self esteem issues and depression. 2 Rousseau’s Ideas The social contract Good government must prioritize the freedom of its citizens because it is the most fundamental objective Government must affirm the freedom of its citizens with specific restrictions inherent to certain complex, modern and civil society Provided law and property exist, man can never be absolutely free With deployment of certain principles, governments can be able to accord its citizens some form of freedom that almost resembles the kind freedom that man enjoys in the state of nature Rousseau invoked the concept of social contract. According to him, government must act in accordance with the freedom needs of the society. Apparently, while this sounds so appealing, it is impractical. This is the reason why the naturally inherent sense of freedom of man has to be regulated by use of laws. The argument that man is not born free but is made free by use of created institutions that seek to protect the rights of man is quite true. Rousseau admits from this fact that the government must make use of institutions to restrict human freedom by use of laws that are largely non-democratic forms of governance as not all people find them good. 3 Email and social media surveillance and freedom Emails and social media have resulted from cooperation and division of labor developments in modern society, Modernization makes the needs of men multiply and include many nonessential things, such as friends, entertainment, and luxury goods While they are initially pleasurable and good, men eventually become slaves of this luxurious needs and they continue to pursue it Unnaturalness causes moral inequalities Surveillance reflects the governments intrusion into the .

1. Rousseau’s Ideas
Nikita Warren
Southern New Hampshire University
March 26 2020
Rousseau’s Ideas
The necessity of freedom
Freedom is a problem of political philosophy
Freedom is needed for two reasons:
“Natural man is physically free because he is not constrained by
a repressive state apparatus or dominated by his fellow men”
(Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778) , n.d)
“Natural man is psychologically and spiritually free because he
is not enslaved to any of the artificial needs that characterize
modern society” (Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778) , n.d)
Modern society is different form the previous uncorrupted
society where man lived favorably with the state of nature
despite having the freedom and liberty to do what they wished
Rousseau was concerned with the nature of freedom. in his
general argument, man was previously living in harmony with
the nature because he had not become a slave to his own needs.
As the needs of man evolved so did his means of interaction
with nature and in this case, man used his freedom to do himself
good and do good to others. However, the modern society is
made up of men who have become slaves to their own needs.
Man is therefore responsible for the present problems of
exploitation, domination, self esteem issues and depression.
2

2. Rousseau’s Ideas
The social contract
Good government must prioritize the freedom of its citizens
because it is the most fundamental objective
Government must affirm the freedom of its citizens with
specific restrictions inherent to certain complex, modern and
civil society
Provided law and property exist, man can never be absolutely
free
With deployment of certain principles, governments can be able
to accord its citizens some form of freedom that almost
resembles the kind freedom that man enjoys in the state of
nature
Rousseau invoked the concept of social contract. According to
him, government must act in accordance with the freedom needs
of the society. Apparently, while this sounds so appealing, it is
impractical. This is the reason why the naturally inherent sense
of freedom of man has to be regulated by use of laws. The
argument that man is not born free but is made free by use of
created institutions that seek to protect the rights of man is
quite true. Rousseau admits from this fact that the government
must make use of institutions to restrict human freedom by use
of laws that are largely non-democratic forms of governance as
not all people find them good.
3
Email and social media surveillance and freedom
Emails and social media have resulted from cooperation and
division of labor developments in modern society,
Modernization makes the needs of men multiply and include
many nonessential things, such as friends, entertainment, and
luxury goods
While they are initially pleasurable and good, men eventually

3. become slaves of this luxurious needs and they continue to
pursue it
Unnaturalness causes moral inequalities
Surveillance reflects the governments intrusion into the
sovereign will of the people to stay connected and to express
their opinions in the modern society that is bound together by
the collective pursuit of superfluous needs
The government often performs surveillance of social media and
email communication. This according to Rousseau is not right.
However, the principle has been adopted in response of what
man has made of the modern society. The complexities in
associations and the increased misuse of freedom in form of
violation of laws forces the government to intrude privacy, a
sovereign will and freedom of man.
4
Reference
Bernal, P. (2016). Data gathering, surveillance and human
rights: recasting the debate. Journal of Cyber Policy, 243-264.
Dammann, G. (2012, July 11). For Rousseau, man is born free,
but kept free only by compassion . Retrieved from The
Guardian:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/jul/11/rousse
au-man-born-free-social-contract
Dent, M. S. (2006). Rousseau's Theory of Freedom. Continuum,
1-124.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778) . (n.d). Retrieved from
Spark Notes:
https://www.sparknotes.com/philosophy/rousseau/themes/

4. Contemporary leader that demonstrates Machiavellian
Characteristic
Barack Obama
44th President
Machiavelli Says a Leader should be War Wise
Barack Obama Captured and Executed Osoma Bin Laden
Noble
Charleston Church Shooting
Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting
“We've endured too many of these tragedies in the past few
years. And each time I learn the news, I react not as a President,
but as anybody else would: as a parent. And that was especially
true today. I know there's not a parent in America who doesn't
feel the same overwhelming grief that I do”.
Reference
Korte, Gregory. “14 Mass Shootings, 14 Speeches: How Obama
Has Responded.” USA Today. Gannett Satellite Information
Network, June 12, 2016.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2016/06/12/14-
mass-shootings-14-speeches-how-obama-has-
responded/85798652/.
Machiavelli Niccolò, and Machiavelli Niccolò. The Prince
Machiavelli. New York: publisher not identified, 2010.

5. State of Nature
According to Hobbes
State of Nature - The "natural condition of mankind" is what
would exist if there were no government, no civilization, no
laws, and no common power to restrain human nature. The state
of nature is a "war of all against all," in which human beings
constantly seek to destroy each other in an incessant pursuit for
power.
Social Circumstances today are not allied with Hobbes Theory
Today we have a Government
Today we have a legal system the base your punishment on your
crime.
Today we vote for our leaders
We Tell our leaders what we wanted from them
Hobbs
Hobbes’s moral philosophy has been less influential than his
political philosophy, in part because that theory is too
ambiguous to have garnered any general consensus as to its
content.
Conclusion
Should we decide how we should Act
Hobbs Say this is “The Condition of Mere Nature”
We should decide how we should Act, however, we should be
Govern just incase some decide to Act in a way that would

6. reflect the negative nature
Reference:
Lloyd, Sharon A., and Susanne Sreedhar. “Hobbes's Moral and
Political Philosophy,” April 30, 2018.
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/hobbes-moral/.