Jacques Derrida

While Rousseau’s argument makes a strong case for inequality, his reasoning is flawed. It is important to note that Rousseau is mainly concerned with two forms of inequality: natural inequality and moral inequality. While natural inequality is a result of physical differences and mental differences, including strength and intelligence, moral inequality occurs in civil society and includes inequalities in wealth and private property. It is important to note that Rousseau believes moral…

Importances of change for the good of society, require ideas. The 17th and 18th century was a period of many changes. In Western Europe, philosophes known as Enlightenment thinker’s, had one belief. Their belief was that people had natural laws or truths that they do not always recognize. Also, thinkers shared their confidence in people’s ability to use reason to discover truths. Individual’s freedom was their main perspective, in order for society to improve over time. The Enlightenment thinker…

In Rousseau’s On the Social Contract, has a plethora of information concerning how citizens must give up their individual liberties in order to engage in a successful social contract and achieve true freedom. It is interesting that Rousseau claims that liberties must be given up in order to achieve freedom, but argues that slaves are inherently not free because they do not have these liberties to give up to begin with. “Aristotle… had also said that men are by no means equal by nature, but that…

Rousseau a Discourse on the Arts and Sciences Casey Froese Rousseau’s discourse illustrates the trickeries that are the arts and sciences, which have been produced by powerful people to disguise their evils and to distract us from our weaknesses. 1) It is written in Budo, - ''there were two fools walking upon a straight path; they claimed to be explorers,'' our society’s current social order inspires this. We must get an education, buy a house, have a family and make tons of money. We are bound…

Philosophy 2400 Zhiyuan Li Is the general will always right? In November 2014, China released a draft amendment to its Criminal Law, including exempting nine crimes from the death penalty. However, a considerable number of people almost immediately expressed their strong disagreement on lightening punishment for those crimes and asked for the most severe punishment instead. If we regard reducing death penalty crimes as the general will, or what is best for the whole society, the opponents might…

2nd Essay - Rough Draft In Rousseau, Burke, and Revolution in France, 1791 author Gary Kates states that “Furet [claimed] the Revolution embraced a radical ideology of popular sovereignty so that any abuse of power could be excused so long as it was achieved in the name of the people” (175). Personally, I agree with this statement because the people were willing to do anything to get what they desired. The French Revolution was built upon the fact that French citizens desired to control the…

Two political theorists, Thomas Hobbes and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, have written extensively on the topic of political philosophy. In doing so, they provide different accounts seeking to justify sovereignty. Sovereignty is generally understood as supreme power or authority, although the writers provide analysis outlining features that play a role in justifying their account of sovereignty. These two authors are consent theorists, so they endorse the idea that the basis of governance relies on…

Napoleon Bonaparte who was the ruler of France sent a troop out to capture Louverture and restore the balance that was once there. Louverture was taken and sent to prison where he ultimately died in 1803. Jean- Jacques Dessalines, one of Louvertures generals and also a former slave, led the revolutionaries at the Battle of Vertieres on November 18, 1803 where the French was defeated. They not succeeded in ending slavery but they also end the French control over…

Beccaria’s idea, was that the French were trying to make a system of law where everyone would be innocent until proven guilty, which is what we use today. Beccaria tried making the lifestyle ‘terror free,’ where there would be no torture, although the death penalty was still used against some beliefs. Along with Beccaria’s ideals, (Beccaria – Essay on Crimes & Punishments) Emmanuel Joseph Sieyes wrote about “The Third Estate,” which embraces all that which belong to the nation. Even though…

In his writing, Rousseau describes two main forms of freedom— the absolute liberty we enjoy in the state of nature and the freedom we preserve in civil society. The former freedom is fundamentally unattractive, and the latter can be achieved only with the concept of the general will. While this democracy is seemingly equitable, it ultimately suffers from numerous flaws that cause the freedom achieved in this state to be rather unappealing. In the state of nature, freedom is described as the…