Roussea General Will

In The Social Contract, Jean Jaques Rousseau basically presents his argument that we, as individuals who agree to form a society, are citizens and subjects, both ruling and being ruled simultaneously. If we look to the general will as it is expressed in Rousseau, we can find no era more timely to take such a look than our present one wherein we are having difficulty determining the moral will of the people in relation to our most recent presidential election. For the doctrine of the general will is popular among theorists in political philosophy for it attempts to define the conditions under which principles and policies enacted by the state are morally acceptable. Individuals are viewed as having interests that are different from one person to the next, while general will theorists view other interests are universal, real, or genuine in that they are common to all individuals.

When it comes to Rousseau's version of the doctrine of general will, it seems his main foundation for his theory comes from his view of society as a social organism. The general will is the will of the social organism, in other words the collective society formed willingly by the citizens of the state. This will, then, is separate and distinct from the will of any individual within the society. Impartiality, disinterestedness, and reason are the components of a general will that is morally right. The main significance of Rousseau's theory on the general w

Category: Philosophy - R