State of Nature: Balance between Freedom and Security

In the state of nature, mankind has utmost freedoms to do whatever he or she wants. John Locke’s Second Treatise of Government contends that the state of nature is the state of equality, where all are free to do as they please. But in this situation, men do not have the benefits of an established government. Security, privacy, and stable resources are provided not by the government, but by an individuals ability to secure such amenities. According to Swiss philosopher, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, those in the state of nature may form a mutually beneficial contract in order to survive. This contract entails creating a government or political authority that would provide for the general body in exchange for some of their natural freedoms. But according to Locke, true equality is in the state of nature, and so an established system would not be fair and equal in regulating an individual’s freedom. Rousseau’s The Social Contract aims to counter this by determining a government that not only upholds liberty, but creates true

The general will, or the will of the people as a whole, takes the form of laws and policies which by convention creates everyone equal. This is contingent that citizens have an active political voice in determining and establishing such laws. The law is the act of the “whole people establishing a decree for the whole people.” The laws passed with the consent and support of the general body is the expression of the general will. Rousseau critiques other philosophers that they assume the individual applications of the law are representative of the sovereign. The application of the law or the execution of policy may be influenced by an individual but this is not the will of the general body. Again, this is dependent on citizens having political influence. Since the law is agreed on by the majority, it applies fairly and equally to the whole