The eighteenth century marked a period of diverse changes in Europe’s politics, philosophy, and science fields due to the influence of many scholars in what is referred to as the age of enlightenment (Kramnick, 1995). The main argument that the academicians and researchers in that period proposed that there were ways that would enable the humans to improve themselves through rational change. The scholars questioned the traditional approaches to those fields with many publications aiming to produce multiple changes especially in the area of philosophy. Jean-Jacques Rousseau counts as one of the most influential contributors of the age of enlightenment by making the different publications on the topic. Rousseau covered the area of philosophy with a focus on the social classes and the nature of politics in the European systems. Rousseau presents various perspectives about the moral ways of the people in that period and follows the path of reason that a majority of the scholars of that time used as well. The author provided a reflection on how the context of a single person develops into an institution, and that almost mirrors the sociopolitical issues in the current society. One of the observable proposals that the philosopher makes is that there will always exist people of various social classes and that influences their ranks in the society (Kramnick, 1995). The ranking of people in society will depend on how much control an individual has on others or the level of wealth of that person. Further, that perspective has an impact on the nature of governance in the society that also assigns various positions to the individuals in charge of different levels. The intention is to establish how the social contract theory in the perspective of Rousseau derives from the inequalities in the society and how that influences governance and their relevance to the current era.
Rousseau provides the views that in nature, all people are free, but develop moralities on various bases that affect freedom in the long-run (Kramnick, 1995). That is the main argument that the philosopher uses in the perspective of the social contract theory that guides the norms of society and especially governance. The argument develops on the front that any person participates in a group with other people that are in a sovereign form. It is natural that even individuals in that sovereign setting have differing opinions about various aspects of the society. That collection of individuals then seeks to establish a methodology that can provide a common ground of perspective that accommodates the views of every person. In the viewpoint of a governance system, that leads to the development of laws and policies that direct the activities of certain territories. The philosopher calls those regulations the general will that seeks to provide a common good for every participant in the society. That is similar to the current society even though the individuals may break down the territories to the smallest units. There always exists a set of strategic rules and regulations that govern the activities that the people undertake.
Rousseau develops a step further in the Discourse on the Origin of Inequality (also the second discourse) to reveal the various types that exist in the society (Rousseau, 1984). Natural or physical inequalities are the first forms that cover aspects that the humans cannot control. For example, some people have larger body frames than others while some have more strength than other individuals. Those are areas whose existence the humans have to learn to accept and that the issues are unavoidable. The greater interest is in the second form that is in the moral or ethical inequalities. Moral inequality derives from the conventions that the society establishes on the facets of power and wealth (Rousseau, 1984). The philosopher observes that this form of differences stems from the desires that people have to satisfy to enhance their perspectives in comparison to others in the surrounding. Therefore, it results from the fact that the human race preferred to live in groups rather than in the natural state that is in isolation from one another. Sometimes those desires even override the social morals in a community as long as the individual achieves their objective. That fact creates the connection between the second discourse and the social contract theory.
Rousseau develops a perspective of the social contract theory to state that it is an agreement of common good among the individuals in a collection (Skyrms, 2014). It is then inherent that the people in that group have to establish certain conventions that guide the communal operations. Those conventions have an influence on the way that the people relate which leads to the existence of categorizations by the available resources and who takes control of those aspects. Those needs facilitate the establishment of methodologies that can enable the individuals in the group to acquire the resources that satisfy their needs. However, the author points that the people will always want to create a better perception of themselves about the others (Skyrms, 2014). Therefore, most of them will look for ways to acquire more of the resources than the others, and that leads to the classification regarding wealth ownership in that group of individuals.
Operating in a free system may lead to the violations of the collective interest, and that necessitates the availability of custodians that enforce the general will that seeks to promote the common good (Rousseau, 1984). That develops the concept that leads to the creation of power and the people that control it in the society. Take the example of the forms of crime that exist in the current era. People violate various laws, and their only concern is to avoid apprehension rather than focus on their morals. The custodians of the public good need various exemptions and abilities than the average individuals in a group. That gives the leaders the capacity to enforce the general will that the group establishes which would be in the form of laws and policies in the current era. There also needs to be a way of regulating the capacity of those custodians to ensure that misuse of power does not occur but use it to achieve the objective of enforcing common good (Baker, 2013). That also influences the development of conventions that categorize people according to the level of influence on the enforcement of the regulations. Those that can have an impact on the laws and policies have more power than those who cannot. Therefore, the social contract theory is correct in the proposal that the authority in society has custodians that hold their positions through an agreement with the other individuals. That is relevant to the current political environment that endorses the election of leaders according to the perceptual quality that is presented to the citizens.
The politics of the society offers a complex system in which individuals are likely to come up with various methods to ensure every person measures up to the standards. The common good can establish laws, but most people may not hesitate in violating them and consequently the whole system of the community. Rousseau also presents a case that reflects the essence of an inner drive towards moral and ethical conduct for every person in society. The author uses religion as an approach to call to awareness of the necessity of a personal moral conduct as one of the ways that people can ensure that there is adherence to the common will of society (Kramnick, 1995). The argument is that adhering to the rules of the common good in society should be as good as the directives in a religious context. The philosopher reflects that God has the power to bring people to the earth and control all their activities but God does not do that due to the freewill endorsed to man. God can even control the manner of thought in every individual and set it to comply with the will of God. He lets anyone choose according to their will and perspectives about their surroundings. Therefore, the religious context should provide a way for the people to make the choice to do good as is in the general will of their groups and that eliminates the need for the custodians. Every person needs to understand their purpose in the society and use that as the point that shapes their ethical practices. The philosopher also points to the essence of instincts and the fact that evidence and reason can also be a misleading source of truths (Kramnick, 1995). Most of the pieces of evidence available in society derive from earlier observations by other people in that society, and no one knows if what was reported is true or false. The author also considers that changes in time can also alter the relevance of some of that evidence in a community due to various developments that the humans may make. Sometimes it requires an individual to act on their moral conviction to establish the truth about various issues in their surroundings.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau presents a perspective of the political arena in a manner that looks into the far future. The aspects of society that Rousseau describes in the publications are a reflection of the current society. The nature of humans that the author perceives in this works looks at what causes the need for government and how that leads to the categorization of the individuals using socioeconomic facets. The findings show that the philosopher sought to establish how the nature of a human’s moral conduct influences the people around them and creates the norms of society. One of the important proposals that Rousseau makes is the need to follow the internal tools of moral inquiry without the necessity for external coercion through areas such as institutional laws and regulations. The conclusion is that the social contract theory and the second discourse that Rousseau presents have a strong connection between them and are a reflection of the current society. In answering the question of this study, the findings show that the proposals of the social contract theory derive from the social ranking to select the leaders in society. People will provide power to the influential individual to serve as the custodians of the public interest that guide the community. Another part of the social contract theory that is present in the current era is the fact that power in politics is an agreement between the citizens and the leaders. Those custodians have to adhere to certain conditions that will convince the voters to vote for them, and that is the agreement part. If the community's politicians do not deliver on their agreements, then the citizens will elect different individuals into those positions. Those developments are mostly present in democratic nations where the policies provide perceptual power to the people rather than the leaders.
References
Baker, E. (2013). Social Contract, Essays by Locke, Hume and Rousseau. Read Books Ltd.
Kramnick, I. (1995). The Portable Enlightenment Reader. New York: Penguin Classics
Rousseau, J. J. (1984). A discourse on inequality.Penguin.
Skyrms, B. (2014). Evolution of the social contract.Cambridge University Press.
