Equality is a term that is referred to as an end goal in present day society, the lofty promise of political candidates in the election and the appealing word plastered on many posters around college campuses. It is an aspirational objective that describes an optimistic future, where people are treated the same and own similar amounts of possessions. French political philosopher, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, would share these sentiments as he holds the belief that inequality that arose due to the creation of property is the root of many evils and that man was better off before in its more primitive stage in the Discourse on the Origin of Inequality. English political philosopher John Locke, however, has a more realistic view of human nature as
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However, Rousseau enumerated a list of three conditions that must be present in order to establish the right over property: “first, the land must not yet be inhabited; secondly, a man must only occupy only the amount he needs for his subsistence; and, in the third place, possession must be taken, not by an empty ceremony, but by labor cultivation…”(Rousseau, 1993, p. 197). These conditions are in fact very similar to Locke’s statement noted previously that a person has the right to possess the land that he or she has planted on, as long as it does not negatively impact others. In addition to discussing property, Rousseau expresses very idealistic beliefs such as the idea of the general will, or the will of the people in society in its entirety. Specifically, he believes the general will is “always upright and always tends to the public advantage”, although he lists a few exceptions for cases in which this does not apply (Rousseau, 1993, p.203). Moreover, he further explains that the general will as being “constant, unalterable and pure” (Rousseau, 1993, p. 275). Although The Social Contract is not as naïve and fantastical as the Discourse on the Origin of Inequality, Rousseau does not fully grasp a fully representative portrait of human nature as he dwells on the idea that people are willing to unite for the common good in all instances, as opposed as reverting to their self-interested behaviors that dismiss the welfare of
However, Rousseau enumerated a list of three conditions that must be present in order to establish the right over property: “first, the land must not yet be inhabited; secondly, a man must only occupy only the amount he needs for his subsistence; and, in the third place, possession must be taken, not by an empty ceremony, but by labor cultivation…”(Rousseau, 1993, p. 197). These conditions are in fact very similar to Locke’s statement noted previously that a person has the right to possess the land that he or she has planted on, as long as it does not negatively impact others. In addition to discussing property, Rousseau expresses very idealistic beliefs such as the idea of the general will, or the will of the people in society in its entirety. Specifically, he believes the general will is “always upright and always tends to the public advantage”, although he lists a few exceptions for cases in which this does not apply (Rousseau, 1993, p.203). Moreover, he further explains that the general will as being “constant, unalterable and pure” (Rousseau, 1993, p. 275). Although The Social Contract is not as naïve and fantastical as the Discourse on the Origin of Inequality, Rousseau does not fully grasp a fully representative portrait of human nature as he dwells on the idea that people are willing to unite for the common good in all instances, as opposed as reverting to their self-interested behaviors that dismiss the welfare of