Abstract

According to Rousseau's Social Contract, the basic question for political philosophy is how one can enter a community while remaining "as free as before." Yet, no agreement exists among scholars as to what kind of freedom civil life offers and how it is related to "natural freedom." This dissertation explains the doctrine of freedom in the Social Contract by showing how it follows necessarily from Rousseau's accounts of the state of nature and the social pact. ;Chapter 1, "The State of Nature," analyzes the pre-political condition. As Rousseau's discussion in the Social Contract is brief, the analysis turns to the second Discourse, about which it asks two questions: whether the Discourse and the Social Contract are part of the same philosophical system, to which it answers yes; and whether the state of nature is intended to be an account of human history, to which it answers no. Chapter II, "The Social Pact," explains the contract that moves humanity from the state of nature into civil society. It first describes the features of natural life that the social pact is designed to cure; then it gives an account of the stipulations of the contract, and explains why the terms are what they are. Chapter III, "Civil Society," describes the kind of existence that is available within the social pact. The primary issue is the difference between the legitimate authority of the sovereign in civil life and the illegitimate power of the stronger party in natural life. This leads to the further question of whether sovereignty can be delegated, to which the chapter answers no. Chapter IV, "Freedom," describes the kinds of liberty available in civil society. It first divides them into negative and positive kinds, and then explains the relationships between them. The chapter shows that both kinds are necessary consequences of the terms of the social pact, and that an interpretation emphasizing one at the expense of the other distorts Rousseau's purpose. The "Conclusion" discusses the consequences of the theory of freedom for Rousseau's political theory in general, showing that he believed there is no solution to the human condition