ean-Jacques Rousseau was born on 28 June 1712 in Geneva, Switzerland. Jean-Jacques' father was a watchmaker who was exiled for being involved in a duel, while his mother died a few days after giving birth to her son. Jean-Jacques was looked after by an aunt and cousin, and then, for a time, he was taken in by a pastor called Lambercier. Apart from some instruction in the principles of the Catholic faith, Jean-Jacques had no formal education. From 1724, he worked as an apprentice to a clerk before moving up to work under an engraver. In 1728, Jean-Jacques left his apprenticeship and Geneva, earning small amounts of money doing odd jobs. He ended up in Turin, where he converted to Catholicism. Rousseau's luck changed in 1731 when he found work with noblewoman Louise Eléonore de Warens (1699-1762), although the pair had first met in 1728. Rousseau worked as a clerk and taught music in the Warens household. The great advantage of his new position was that he had plenty of time for reading, and Rousseau used this well, making up for lost time on his hitherto neglected education. In 1740, he moved to the household of Abbé de Mably (1709-1785) in Lyon where he again taught music.

1. JEAN JACQUES
ROUSSEAU’S
POLITICAL THEORY
Prepared by Raizza Corpuz

2. "Man is born free, and everywhere he is
in chains. One man thinks himself the
master of others, but remains more of a
slave than they“
Rousseau proclaimed the natural
goodness of man and believed that one
man by nature is just as good as any
other.

3.  The noble savage: Humans are naturally free
and good but are corrupted by institutions of
society (“Man is born free, but he is everywhere in
chains”).
 Individuals in society must subjugate personal
interests to the general will, an abstract
expression of the common good.

4. On Politics and
Government
■ opposed to the idea that the people should
exercise sovereignty via a representative
assembly; rather, he held that they should
make the laws directly, which would
effectively prevent the ideal state from
becoming a large society.

5. ■ seriously attack the institution of private
property
■ He also questioned the assumption that the
will of the majority is always correct,
arguing 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

6. The Social Contract tor Principles
of Political Right
Concept of Freedom
He believed that good government must have the freedom of all
its citizens as its most fundamental objective
1. That natural man is physically free because he is not constrained
by a repressive state apparatus or dominated by his fellow men.
2. That he is psychologically and spiritually free because he is not
enslaved to any of the artificial needs that characterize modern
society.

7. ■ The social contract involves the alienation by each, of
himself and all his rights, to the community, and this
takes place in
(3) three stages:
1. each gives himself up absolutely
2. all do this unconditionally;
3. each recovers the equivalent of everything he loses.
■ natural freedom is given up in exchange for social
freedom, where no one is dependent on another and
each obeys himself.

8. ■ He argued that, by joining together
into civil society through the social
contract and abandoning their claims
of natural right, individuals can
both preserve themselves and yet
remain free, because submission to the
authority of the general will of the
people as a whole guarantees individuals
against being subordinated to the wills of
others, and also ensures that they
themselves obey because they are
(collectively) the authors of the law.

9. The Principle of General Will
Rousseau explains, the general will is the will of the sovereign, or all the people together,
that aims at the common good—what is best for the state as a whole.
■ Although each individual may have his or her own particular will that expresses what is
good for him or her, in a healthy state, where people correctly value the collective
good of all over their own personal good, the amalgamation of all particular wills, the
“will of all,” is equivalent to the general will.
■ In a state where the vulgarities of private interest prevail over the common interests
of the collective, the will of all can be something quite different from the general
will. The most concrete manifestation of the general will in a healthy state comes in
the form of law.
■ To Rousseau, laws should always record what the people collectively desire (the
general will) and should always be universally applicable to all members of the state.
It should exist to ensure that people’s individual freedom is upheld, thereby
guaranteeing that people remain loyal to the sovereign at all times.

10. General Will and the Will of All
■ The general will is the will of the sovereign: it
aims at the common good and it is expressed in
the laws. The will of all is simply the aggregate
of the particular wills of each individual.
■ Rousseau suggests that climate, soil, and the
type of population determine the kind of
government a state will have.

11. Summary
■ French Philosopher
■ 1762 – published Social Contract
■ Gov’t should be based on a Social Contract
■ Everyone must agree to be governed by the
general will , what's good for the people
(foundation for totalitarian gov’t)
■ Humans being were naturally good but
corrupted by society
■ Importance on Education and Civic Virtue – train
people how to be good citizens.
■ People should pay more attention to emotions &
feelings instead of new ideas –seek a balance –