Jean Jacques Rousseau Research Paper

A renaissance man by nature, Jean-Jacques Rousseau is, by far and away, my favorite political theorist thus far. A paradox both in nature and in writing Jean apparently disdained philosophers as “rationalizers that deter humanity from their natural born impulses of compassion.” And yet, this does not deter him from jumping into the fray. Rousseau distances and elevates himself from his philosophical brethren by his aura of inclusivity, which not only discusses the rights and virtues of all men but of all women too, and he encapsulates all of life in his theorizing rather than looking at politics as some cold-blooded game of chess where winning means power and survival and losing means anarchy and death. No, Rousseau is aware that mankind has been bestowed with the awful burden of freedom of will, the ability to choose action other than what our instincts tell us, for better or worse, at least we are free. And to be free is the only pathway to

His solution is the realization that there are two types of freedom “natural freedom” and that of “civil freedom.” Both comply with the intrinsic and moral need for personal freedom, but both come attached with certain caveats to the ability to enact these freedoms to their full potential. Natural freedom allows for equal right to all things, which is all well and good, but without teamwork essentially and the wanton state of that reality, many facets of life become untenable and/or unobtainable. Such as roadways, extensive farming, appropriate shelter, guaranteed food sources and health in general. Civil freedom deprives one from the right to ALL things and instead provides for an equal and obtainable right to many formerly unobtainable things within a sphere of personal freedom that coincides with that of what he refers to as the “General