materials
background & overview
- Wikipedia:
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Jacques_Rousseau
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Social_Contract
- Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy:
- https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/rousseau/
- Videos
- https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/46333/pg46333-images.html#CONTENTS
lectures
- Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s Philosophy
- Noam Chomsky - Rousseau, Moral Progress, and Illegitimate Authority
- Locke vs Rousseau (Social Contract Philosophers Compared)
- Thomas Hobbes and John Locke: Two Philosophers Compared
- POLITICAL THEORY - Thomas Hobbes
- POLITICAL THEORY - John Locke
- POLITICAL THEORY - John Rawls
takeaways
- The gist of his framework is… There’s a “general will”, which the vague “Sovereign” body knows and uses to make laws. The magistrate carries out those laws. The people obey those laws. The proportion and quality of the Sovereign, magistrate, and people relative to the present reality of the nation has a big impact on the effectiveness of the nation. Most problems in nations come from the Sovereign and government overlapping
- I have so little experience in this space that I couldn’t tell what of his was novel and what was already well-established.
- People are inherently good, but they have to band together and that corrupts them. They should should be positioned such that they act in their personal interest when they’re acting in the best interests of the nation.
- All parts of the nation are constantly subject to change, and the nation itself will eventually die out.
- The relationship between this framework and religion was incredibly interesting. And the division of religion from politics with the monotheistic religions through this lens.
reading notes
the social contract
book 1
Chapter 1
Everyone seems to be enslaved. I don’t know how it happened, but I think I can make it better.
People are better off not being forced to obey. But social order is useful.
Chapter 2
Family is the only natural society, and the master-slave dynamic must last as long as children need their father to survive.
The first law of man is self-preservation.
Family is the first political model to look at. But in it, a ruler can not love all his people.
There’s a point of view where the ruler is a shepherd of a flock to care for so they can be consumed. With this point of view, rulers are gods and men are beasts. It can work this way, but it’s an aftereffect of the dynamic, as opposed to the best way for things to be.
Chapter 3
There’s no duty involved in “might is right.”
There’s not much point in obeying the strongest if they’re “right” only for as long as they’re strongest. They’re not actually “right” in the true sense of the word.
Chapter 4
Conventions form the basis of all legitimate authority.
It doesn’t make sense for people to give themselves to another. It’s not “right”.
To renounce liberty is to renounce being a man.
One might say that slavery is better than being killed in war, but war is an absurd and unnatural byproduct of feudalism, which isn’t “right” in the first place.
Wars are between states, so states shouldn’t kill people who aren’t bearing arms for a state. When a state has won, the people of the lost state shouldn’t be threatened with death.
Slave and “right” contradict each other.
Chapter 5
When a people gives itself to a king, it is a people before it is ruled by that king. And when the king dies, it is a people not ruled by that king. Becoming a people is worth more inspection than a people becoming ruled. And it all presupposes some sort of unanimous vote.
Chapter 6
People need each other to survive, so they need to coordinate.
People have to choose where to apply force and liberty - to others or themselves. People should get into a position where they’re doing both at the same time.
Everyone knows this intuitively. When helping others violates this, the individual will go back to using force and liberty for themselves alone.
Each person gives their powers to the general will and gets each member of the general will as one indivisible unit.
The union of persons is a state when passive, sovereign when active, and power when compared with others like it.
Chapter 7
There’s a difference between binding yourself to a contract as an individual vs. a group of individuals (sovereign).
The sovereign can’t enter into a contract that infringes on the contract between individuals and it.
The definition of the sovereign is that it is what it should be.
Individuals can have a will in conflict with the general will.
The only way individuals can be compelled to obey the general will is if it sets them free.
Chapter 8
When a person becomes part of a state, his actions become more intentional and moral.
Natural liberty is bounded by the strength of the individual, while civil liberty is bounded by the general will.
Possession is about power, property is about contracts.
Acting on impulses is slavery while obediance to a law we choose to follow is moral liberty.
Chapter 9
The state gains property by the right of the first occupier - via an individual.
The right of a the first occupier is more real than right of the strongest, but much weaker. It is respecting what does not belong to ourselves.
The right of the first occupier can happen when: land is unoccupied, only the amount of land needed for subsistence is taken, and possession is taken through labour and cultivation.
Laws are only useful to those who have possessions. The social state is advantageous when everyone has something, but no one has too much.
Book 2
Chapter 1
Every society should be governed on the basis of the common good.
It’s impossible for an individual will to agree with the general will because you can’t agree with a future will.
No opposition to the will of the ruler implies that it is aligned with the general will.
Chapter 2
The general will is the will of all the people. Otherwise, it is not general, and it is local to one subset.
Political theorists divide Sovereignty into pieces that don’t come together cohesively.
There’s a difference between creation of law and application of law.
Monarchies don’t really recognize that difference.
Chapter 3
People aren’t corrupted, but they are often deceived.
Fiefdoms of competing groups of interests are different than the general will.
For the general will to express itself effectively, there should be as many factions as possible, with as much equal power as possible.
Chapter 4
If the state wants to survive, it needs to use the force of the people.
There are different rights and duties for the sovereign vs. individuals.
Sovereign power is absolute and sacred, but it does not exceed general conventions. It doesn’t give more to certain fiefdoms.
Chapter 5
Every person has the right to risk their own life in order to preserve it.
If you’re willing to preserve your life at the expense of others, you have to be willing to give it.
Frequent punishments and lots of criminals are a sign of weakness in government. A sign that the general will is not being followed.
Chapter 6
The social compact gives the body politic life, and legislation gives it movement and will to preserve itself.
There’s a universal justice that eminates from reason alone, but people don’t really follow them naturally.
A law is hard to define.
Laws are made about an aspect of the whole body, not about any division of it.
Laws are never made for a particular person or action. Legislative power can’t act on any particular object.
Laws are obviously the general will, since they always apply to the whole self, body.
A republic is a state governed by laws.
A legislator is needed to help the public see what it wills.
Chapter 7
The best rules for society are exceptionally hard to come by. “It would take gods to give men laws.”
Great princes only have to follow the pattern that the legislator lays down.
Legislation involves using the natural resources within people to generate new kinds of resources.
Whoever defines the laws shouldn’t be the one who commands people, otherwise laws will follow private aims instead of the general will.
A legislator has to come up with laws, but those laws might not follow the general will. The people should still opt in to any law, through voting. The legislator has to do a very hard thing, and with no authority.
Common language can’t really express important concepts. The legislator can’t use force or reason to explain their laws, so they have often appealed to divine intervention.
Politics and religion were useful together in early nations for this reason.
Chapter 8
Laws have to be adapted appropriately to the people they will apply to.
Old nations are resistant to change and get stuck in established ways.
Sometimes nations are reborn out of some horrible circumstances.
“Liberty can be gained, but can never be recovered.”
Nations go through a period of youth where they have to go easy on laws. Russia went too hard too soon.
Chapter 9
Different constitutions are appropriate for different sizes of countries.
Each layer of government adds expense and inefficiencies.
Different lands and people need different laws.
People inside a state always end up acting against one-another.
The reasons for contraction of a state should be taken higher than reasons for expansion, since internal stuff is more true than external stuff.
Constantly expanding states will eventually fail.
Chapter 10
It’s best for a nation to be able to exist on its own outside of commerce and war.
It’s best not to set up a constitution when in the middle of a conflict.
A true legislator doesn’t make big changes during times of crisis, only a tyrant or usurper.
There are many circumstances where making legislation is bad. But reality requires legislation, so it will inevitably end up suffering in some way.
Chapter 11
Liberty and equality should be the main ends of every system of legislation.
Circumstances produce inequality, so legislation must help maintain equality.
Legislation can be directed at other ends, like religion, commerce, or war. What makes a constitution solid is for it to be appropriate to circumstances.
Chapter 12
Constitutional laws arise from the relation between different aspects of the body and itself.
Civil laws arise from the relations between citizens.
Criminal laws arise from the relations between citizens and laws.
Custom and public opinion is the final kind of law.
Book 3
Chapter 1
“This part will be hard to read.”
The body politic has will that’s followed by force: legislative power and executive power.
Legislative power belongs to the people, but executive power doesn’t.
The government has the executive power. It’s an intermediate between the sovereign and the subjects which executes the laws.
The “prince” or “magistrate” is the person or body entrusted with the administration of the executive power.
The sovereign has to make laws and nothing else. The magistrate has to enforce laws and nothing else. The subjects have to follow laws and nothing else. If any of those things don’t happen in general, the State is dissolved.
The greater the force given to the government to keep the people in check, the greater the force ought to be given to the Sovereign to keep the government in check.
The government is separate from the Sovereign and the people, inside the State.
The government will end up with its own personality, and since it has so much power, it can easily fall into changing things for its benefit, sacrificing the people for the government.
Chapter 2
Must distinguish between government and its principle.
The more force the government expends on its members, the less it has left for the people. So the more magistrates, the weaker the government.
A magistrate person has three wills: of the individual, of the prince, and of the State. In perfect legislation, there should be no individual will and minimal princely will. Unfortunately, these will are active in the opposite order.
If everyone is a magistrate and legislator, then the princely will is the State will.
More people together makes for too much deliberation, which ruins everything.
Chapter 3
Democracy: more citizens are magistrates than just private individuals.
Aristocracy: small number of magistrates. Less than half.
Monarchy: single magistrate.
It might be that the more people there are, the few magistrates there should be.
Chapter 4
Prince and Sovereign shouldn’t be the same, even though it might feel efficient.
It’s unnatural for lots of people to govern. Power will fall into the hands of the efficient few.
“Were there a people of gods, their government would be democratic.”
Chapter 5
The first societies were aristocracies.
Three kinds of aristocracy: natural, elective, and hereditary. Second is best.
It’s best for people to know and approve of their magistrates.
The state shouldn’t be so small the laws follow public opinion immediately. It shouldn’t be so big that multiple Sovereigns develop.
Aristocracies will heavily favour the rich.
Chapter 6
A monarch carries out the law in a monarchy. An individual stands for a collective being.
No government is more vigorous than a monarchy, but the will doesn’t usually point in the right direction.
Monarchs like to hear that their people want to be prosperous, numerous, and formidable. Their personal interest is the opposite.
A monarchy is unsuitable for a small state because there needs to be intermediate layers, and those layers introduce class differences that can be problematic.
Low-performing, highly political administrators tend to rise to the top. When a high-performing monarch arises when the administration is full of low-performing administrators, great changes can happen.
A kingdom should expand or contract according to the monarch’s capabilities.
Power tends to seek profit from changing monarchs, to the cost of the State. Strategies like hereditary succession reduce those costs, but introduce other problems.
It seems like how to reign can’t be taught.
Monarchies suffer from inconsistent policy because all ministers and kings tend to reverse the policies of their predecessors.
Monarchs usually come to the throne wicked or incompetent, otherwise the throne makes them that way.
Chapter 7
Governments often have mixed magistrates.
Chapter 8
When a given person’s labour no longer brings a return greater than their needs, the state will fail.
The excess return is different in different countries.
The further governments are from the public contributions that drive them, the more burdensome they become. Monarchies are furthest and democracies are closest.
Lands where people don’t produce any excess can’t support a government.
Hotter climates need less work to produce excess. Colder climates lead to more consuption.
More people over greater distance makes it harder to revolt against a government.
Chapter 9
There are many kinds of good government.
The number and prosperity of the people are a measure of government performance.
Chapter 10
The government will go in conflict with the Sovereign until it degenerates.
Government usually devolves from democracy to aristocracy to monarchy.
When the government usurps the Sovereignty, then the people suddenly become the government and all the rest are slaves.
A tyrant usurps royal authority and a despot usurps sovereign power.
Chapter 11
No government can last.
The best constituted state will last long, but will die.
As soon as the legislative power fails, the State will die soon.
If laws grow weaker as they age, there is no longer legislative power and the state is dead.
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Assemblies outside of government should be unlawful.
The stronger the government, the more often the Sovereign should show itself.
The Sovereign isn’t centered in any one town. The government shouldn’t be either.
Chapter 14
In the presence of the person represented, the representatives no longer exist. So when the population assembles, government is no more.
Government is incentivised to stop assemblies.
Chapter 15
After a legislative power is established, a separate executive power has to be established.
The sovereign can’t give power over itself to the legislature. There can be no contract between the people and its rulers that one will obey the other.
The only contract is the act of association.
Chapter 17
The sovereign makes a law to establish a government. The people nominate rulers via the law. The people act as temporary magistrates themselves.
Chapter 18
Government is a law not a contract and the people can pull them down because there is no contract, just obedience.
It’s easy for the prince (magistrates) to hold on to power under the guise of keeping the peace and stability. Regular scheduled assemblies are necessary to stop this.
Book 4
Chapter 1
As long as a group of people consider themselves to be a group, there’s a general will that wants the best for them.
In a small group, there are few laws, and each new law needed is obvious to everyone.
When subgroups gain too much power, lots of problems arise.
When the social bond is broken, everyone acts in their personal interest and not a general one. They begin to view every decision as not in the interests of the general public.
Chapter 2
There can be times where there’s two major bodies that disagree sometimes. There can be cases where people only worship or despair the government.
The social compact is the only law that needs unanimous consent. Opponents to the compact makes them not part of it.
The vote of the majority binds all the rest. Even though a person will be bound to things they disagree with, they are made free through this binding.
Different grades of unequal division of votes are appropriate for votes under different conditions.
The more important the decision, the closer to unanimity it needs to be. The faster the vote, the less unanimity there should be allowed to be.
Chapter 3
In elections, there is choice and lot. If the election of rulers is a function of government and not sovereignty, then lot is better.
In an ideal democracy, election by lottery is a burden, and the public would be indifferent about who got elected.
You can mix choice and lot through things like “military posts” randomly picking someone from the military.
Chapter 4
We have lots of stories about what caused new nations to form, but few about how they were formed.
In the roman empire, they gave more voting power to the rural tribes than the city tribes, and so power wasn’t as centralized under the few. The simple villager became more valued.
Powerful eventually took advantage of the rule and separated tribe from identity so they could centralize and hold on to power again.
Rome had some complex division of magistracy positions and voting.
Chapter 5
Sometimes a special entity is needed to transition the government when it needs to change shape or size. This is called the tribunate, which preserves the laws and legislative power. It only has the power to veto legislative or executive power.
The tribunate can get too much power and that ruins everything. It’s a good idea to cycle them regularly.
Chapter 6
Laws can cause problems when they can’t adapt to changing circumstances. Laws have to be able to lapse. When the country is at stake, the few in power must be able to make executive decisions quickly, outside of the law. They must not make laws, though.
Chapter 7
The censorship is the declaration of the public judgement - opinion, but not decisions. Censorship can preserve morality but not restore it.
Censorship prevents opinion from growing corrupt.
Chapter 8
People started with gods, and it took awhile to accept equals as masters.
Theological and religious intolerance are the same.
Wars between states used to be religious wars because the religion and state were the same body.
Jews didn’t recognize any god other than their own, so they were persecuted once conquered.
Romans absorbed all the different gods when they conquered the world. Jesus separated the spiritual kingdom from the political kingdom, retaining religion when Christians were conquered.
Certain kingdoms (England) became the head of the church, but they were magistrates of the religion, not sovereign, so they couldn’t change it. There are effectively two kingdoms that are hard to bring back together.
No country has been founded without a religious basis and the law of Christianity is net negative to the constitution.
Three kinds of religions wrt society:
- the religion of humankind
- the religion of citizen
- both humankind+citizen at the same time, contradictory
Religion of citizen makes the country have high unity, but can corrupt when it causes power enclaves.
Religion of humankind reduces the power of the state and government.
True christians are made to be slaves.
It’s impossible to live at peace with those we regard as damned. Tolerance of religion should be given as long as dogmas are compatible with the duties of citizenship.