An evaluation of the claim that Rousseaus Social Contract sacrifices the individual to the collective Free Essay Example, 5000 words

I. Introduction The social contact is a term that refers to establishment of government and the origination of its ity over society at large. In terms of individuals who existed post the construction of the state, it is assumed that they implicitly consented to the social contract. A key example of this is the fact that individuals reap the benefits of society, such as peace and access to health care and use of a medium of exchange. Jean Jacques Rousseau indicated that society operates freely insofar as the general will is used as a criteria for making policy decisions. The will of the public is represented though democratic procedures in society. While most interest converge to reflect the overarching consensus within society, there are bound to be some marginalized opinions. This means that society has to develop a means of arbitrating between what is right and wrong. Rousseau developed a simple calculus for making this decision. He uses the general will to evaluate whether the up holding the individuals rights is good for society as a collective entity. In this paper after providing background information on the nature of humanity, I describe the social contract and the role of government. We will write a custom essay sample on An evaluation of the claim that Rousseaus Social Contract sacrifices the individual to the collective or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/pageorder now Next, we explore the philosophical framework that surrounds the rights that individuals have in society. Before concluding, I discuss the General Will and determine whether its meant to sacrifice the individual for the collective. II. Background Rousseau exclaimed that the state of nature existed without the rule of law or a system of morality. In this state humans banned together for the benefits and necessity of cooperation. As society became increasingly developed, the perpetual division of labor and the extension of private property demanded the totality of the human race to adopt governing institutions of law. This structure of society forces individuals to be increasingly interdependent whereby on one hand, they continue competition while on the other hand, they require each other. Rousseau theorized that by joining together into a civil society through the social contract surrendering their natural rights, individuals can both preserve themselves and remain free. Specifically, because the submission to the authority of the general will guarantees individuals protection against being subordinated to the wills of others and ensures that they obey the collective because they are, holistically, the authors of the law. This is where the general will becomes and important aspect of Rousseau’s Theory of the social contract.