The Social Contract: A Deep Dive into Rousseau’s Philosophy
The Social Contract
The core issue addressed by the social contract is how to establish a form of association that safeguards the person and property of each individual while ensuring that each person, though united with all, remains as free as before. The contract’s terms are inherently defined by the nature of the agreement, making even the slightest alteration render it void. These terms are universal, implicitly acknowledged and accepted by all parties.
The Sovereign
The social contract involves a mutual commitment between the public and the private, the individual, and the collective. It’s as if an individual enters into an agreement with themself, becoming obligated under a dual relationship: as a member of the sovereign and as a member of the state.
Civil Liberty
In this social contract, individuals relinquish their natural liberty and the unrestricted right to pursue whatever they desire and can achieve. In return, they gain civil liberty and the right to property. To understand this trade-off, it’s crucial to differentiate between natural liberty, which is limited only by individual strength, and civil liberty, which is constrained by the general will. Similarly, possession, based on force or the right of the first occupant, differs from property, which relies on a legal title.
Property Rights
While the right of the first occupant might seem more legitimate than the right of force, it doesn’t constitute a true right until the establishment of property. Naturally, individuals are entitled to what they need. However, the act of becoming a property owner excludes others from that same right. This is why the right of first occupancy, weak in the state of nature, gains respect in a civil society. If this right infringes upon the rights of others, it loses its validity.
The Inalienability of Sovereignty
The exercise of sovereignty, which is essentially the general will, cannot be alienated. The sovereign, being a collective entity, cannot be represented by anything other than itself. Power can be delegated, but not the will.
The Indivisibility of Sovereignty
Sovereignty is indivisible for the same reason it’s inalienable. The general will either exists or it doesn’t. Its declaration constitutes an act of sovereignty and law. Anything else is merely a particular will or an act of the magistracy, a decree.
Can the General Will Err?
While the general will is always right and aims at the public good, it doesn’t mean that the decisions of the people are always equally righteous. The people always desire their own good, but they don’t always understand it. The people are never corrupted, but they are often deceived, and only then do they appear to will what is bad.
Limits of Sovereign Power
The state, or city, is a moral person whose life depends on the union of its members. Its primary concern is self-preservation. It possesses a force, a universal impulse, to direct each part in the way most beneficial to the whole. Just as nature grants individuals absolute power over their bodies, the social contract grants the body politic absolute power over all its members. This power, guided by the general will, is what we call sovereignty.
Law
The act of association gives life to the political body. Law provides its movement and will. The original act of forming this body doesn’t determine what it must do to ensure its preservation.
What is Government?
Government is an intermediary body between the subjects and the sovereign, facilitating communication and managing the execution of laws and the preservation of both civil and political freedom. The members of this body are magistrates, kings, or governors, and the entire body is called the prince. The act of a people subjecting themselves to rulers is not a contract but a commission, a task in which officials of the sovereign body exercise the power entrusted to them.
Aristocracy
Aristocracy has two distinct entities: the government and the sovereign. Consequently, there are two general wills: one for all citizens and another for members of the administration.
Monarchy
We’ve viewed the prince as a moral and collective person, unified by laws and holding executive power. Now, consider this power concentrated in a natural person, a real individual who can only act according to the law. This person is the monarch or king.
Dictatorship
If the increasing activity of the government needs to be addressed, it can be focused on one or two members. This doesn’t alter the authority of the law but changes the form of government. However, if the danger is so great that the legal apparatus becomes an obstacle, a supreme chief can be appointed to temporarily suspend laws and sovereign authority.
Censorship
Just as the general will is expressed through law, public opinion is manifested through censorship. Public opinion acts as the censor, dealing with particular cases rather than imitating the prince. The court of censorship, as the arbiter of public opinion, is not superior to the people. If it deviates from the people’s will, its decisions become null and void.
Civil Religion
Placing God as the head of a political society implies that there have been as many gods as nations. Two foreign and often hostile nations cannot recognize the same head, just as two armies cannot obey the same general. This polytheism and theological and civil intolerance arose from national divisions.