Abstract

This dissertation is a critical examination of the political philosophy of Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Rousseau's theory of human nature is extracted from the Emile and the Discourse on the Origin of Inequality. Drawing from the Constitutional Project for Corsica and Considerations on the Government of Poland, an account is presented of the society which Rousseau envisions if the political principles of the Social Contract were actually to be applied. Having shown the basis for Rousseau's political philosophy and his view of the implications of its application, I develop an interpretation of the Social Contract which resolves some of the major controversy attending that work. The following interpretation is presented and defended. According to Rousseau, the fundamental problem for political philosophy is to bring a halt to the injustices which exist in modern civilizations. The injustices in society are ultimately a consequence of the motivations that effectively guide the actions of men; an injustice comes about because an individual has a desire to harm another, or because he has the desires whose satisfaction requires, as a by-product, harm to others. The solution for Rousseau is to eliminate those desires, or at least to render them ineffectual. This can be accomplished only in a small, agrarian community in which there is a common set of manners, morals, and customs, and in which the citizens for the most part do not desire to develop their individual talents and abilities beyond what is necessary for the maintenance of the minimal state, and are prevented from doing so should the desire arise. The "General Will" is to be understood as the ideal which is to guide society to preserve and maintain such conditions. It is then argued that the limitations of individual development inherent in Rousseau's philosophy separates his work from the major concerns of modern political theorists, and effectively eliminates his work as a viable solution to problems in modern political philosophy