Title: The Social Contract

Author: Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Hi all,

yet another week has passed and were already moving into territory of closing off another month of the year.

The book I have for you today was something that was written in 1762, and was one of the manuscripts that was used by the French Revolutionaries to motivate their actions to stage the revolution that followed in 1789.

Take the title of the book, think about it for a moment, and then say what you think the book is about. If it is something around the lines of your “contract” with the society in which you live then that’s a pretty good guess.

Even though we haven’t physically signed a contract with anyone, or even the government that we will do certain things, and in return the government will do certain things, the fact that we live in a country that is not currently undergoing a revolution is a good indicator that the rules that were set in place are satisfactory for both parties to live by.

But how did we come to this point?

Well, let’s go far back in history. Really, really, really far back to an age where societies lived in small groups of hunter-gatherers. There, the individuals were very self-sufficient, and could take care of themselves. Everyone would have all the skills to take care of themselves. However, it would be time-consuming to perform every single task on your own (catching food, collecting water, washing, building your home and making reparations, keep a fire going, collecting wood, and watching over camp during the night for predators), and therefore peoples would group together so that their probability of surviving would increase. Since your group is bigger, it would be inefficient for everyone to do everything, and therefore people were allocated to perform certain tasks in which they were good at (in economics this is specialization).

• Inherently, you have agreed to follow some rules that everyone has agreed to and will abide by so that you may continue to live amongst the tribe.

This is a primitive society, yet the concept is the same when you increase a population size or even look at a modern civilization.

The book is split into four parts:

• Part 1 considers the principles behind a just civil state
• Part 2 describes the state, and relays the relations with its elements
• Part 3 considers the government and its various forms
• Part 4 considers ways in which the government can strengthen itself from inside

It is quite a tricky book to read, but ultimately the topic it wishes to address is whether the civil state can be so constituted that its members do not lose that which is their right by birth, their freedom.

• The problem is to find a form of association which may defend and protect the whole force of the community the person and property of every associate, and by means of which each, coalescing with all, may nevertheless obey only himself, and remain as free as before.

When there exist three different wills (desires) in a society (1. individual will, 2. will of all, and 3. general will) what measures can you introduce to make the life in society most beneficial to all that they do not feel that they have lost their freedom, and would not consider moving away from the society so they may exercise their freedom as they once did?

For students of political philosophy, this is something I would recommend them to include as background knowledge. For someone that wishes to understand what the relation between a state/government and its people should/could be, this book gives some insight into that as well.

We all wish to retain our freedoms, yet sometimes we are requested to give some of that freedom away in exchange for the implementation of a particular law that promises to make our lives better. However, with everyone having a different will, it is difficult to find those changes you wish to introduce that everyone will accept.

Summary:

Interesting book for some insight into the topic what the relation between a people and a state should be, how a state is created and what its purpose should be. It is somewhat tricky to understand how all the chapters come together, but overall is an insightful read. I give it a rating of 3.8/5.

Enjoy your weekend! 🙂