Jean-Jacques Rousseau
The Swiss Jean-Jacques Rousseau was an eighteenth-century political philosopher.1 His work built the foundations for the second prong of this project: the idea that political philosophy requires an ideal to move toward.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, while his political theory is often viewed as opposing Locke’s theory, still derives from the same tradition and assumes the ideas of contemporaries as given such as power coming from the people. However, Rousseau diverges from previous philosophers as previous philosophers like Locke had only focused on the individual whereas Rousseau articulated the importance of something akin to the common good.
“Each of us places his person and all his power in common under the supreme direction of the general will; and as one, we receive each member as an indivisible part of the whole.” 2
In his On the Social Contract, he articulates that the sovereign good is made up of the public and aims toward the common good. This articulates that political theory is not just about protecting the rights of individuals from the government but also promoting the good of the people altogether. He writes that this drive encourages equality,3 something which seems to lean toward the idea of universal human rights. Regardless of Rousseau’s personal opinions, his philosophy suggests that politics should aim toward the common good and the idea of human rights does this.
1. Rousseau, Jean-Jacques. On the Social Contract. Edited by David Woottan. Translated by Donald A. Cress. Second. Cambridge, MA: Hackett Publishing Company, Inc., 2019, vii-viii.
2. ibid, 12.
3. ibid, 19.