nd liberty Above all, Rousseau believed that
The emphasis on man's natural state and the simple life does not mean that Rousseau believed that men should live in a wild state. On the contrary, he believed that authority and liberty must find a balance so that men can live in a reasonable and ordered society with other men without giving up their liberty. This sentiment was best expressed in the Social Contract:
The problem is to find a form of association
which will defend and protect with the whole
common force the persona and goods of each
associate, and in which each, while uniting
himself with all, may still obey himself alone
and remain as free as before (p. 151).
In other words, men should pass from their state of nature to the civil state, thereby substituting justice for instinct in their conduct. Thus Rousseau is not only arguing for individual liberty, but for the necessity of social organization or a civil government. Rousseau, however, does warn men to be constantly watchful of their leaders, and t
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