The Social Contract

The Social Contract was written back in 18C after the Renaissance had opened up a new era, liberating individual character and thoughts and bringing the flourish in politics, natural science, economy, philosophy, theology and many other aspects. The book came out when the Enlightenment was on the crest, one of its representatives being Rousseau, writer of The Social Contract. Rousseau deems that public will, or to say general will, is a sublimation of human’s free volitions and raises the concept ‘the social contract’ in the book, paving the way for the later bourgeois revolution. The content of the book is generally divided into four parts, each including several chapters. In the first part, Rosseau discussed the social structure and social contract. Previously, social order was maintained by the sovereign, by violence, which turned out impermanent because so long as a more powerful individual or institute appeared, it would immediately come to an end. As Rosseau pointed out, social order should come from conventions where people willingly obey the rules instead of being obliged to imply. The second part illustrates sovereignty, the apply of general will which is inalienable and indivisible. The general, rather than the will of all, is always correct yet may fail to make some wise judgements once in a while. In consequence, the lawmakers are, to some extent, designated to draft new laws and come up with suggestions on it, while only people themselves are qualified for legislation. As to the third part of the book, it was an explanation of governments and their modes of functioning. To the governments, only legislation was far from enough, thus an agency linking sovereign body and the people was required. Governments appeared to be the executive institutions instead of the sovereignty itself, for they merely received commands from the sovereignty and conveyed them while the sovereignty had every right to limit, alter and withdraw the executive authority at their will. The last part of The Social Contract was about several social organizations. The general will is indestructible, being realized through voting and different organizations had their different modes of election. Religion was the foundation of a country which is a purely spiritual religion and whose spirit is incompatible with the system. As a result, the doctrines should be simple and precise, and such doctrine would only play a positive role under the theological government, being negative to any other form of government. In the book The Social Contract, the author Rosseau laid out his political vision, asserting sovereignty in the people. Not only Rosseau but also many other ideologists asserted sovereignty in their works or speeches as well, which was the core idea of the Enlightenment, such as Montesquieu, Voltaire and Diderot. There was no doubt they blazed a trail in the 17、18 C and paved way for the later bourgeois revolution. Though short of literary beauty, its political value was immeasurable and it went on to have an enormous influence on the following centuries and the later pioneers.