Proposal

1
Proposal

• That all laws be enacted by the general will.
  This is not mere absolute democracy, as the will
  is general in two senses

2

• (1) It is the will of the people in general
• (2) Laws are not particular to any man.
• This entails that there shall be no factions and
  no political parties.
• Citizens who are incapable of suppressing their
  private wills will be not allowed to vote.

3
The origin of inequality

• Deduction of the origin of inequality and the
  institution and abuse of political societies by
  light of reason independent of sovereign
  authority.

4
P1

• There is hardly any inequality in the state of
  nature
• Therefore, all inequality hails from the
  development of the faculties and advancement of
  the human mind.
• It become permanent and legitimate by
  establishment of property and law.

5
It follows that

• Moral inequality authorized by positive right
  alone clashes with natural right, whenever it is
  not proportionate to physical inequality.

6
State of nature

• Contra to Hobbes
• Man conceived along is not rational
• he has no language, as language is social.
• Language is the basis for rationality
• Therefore, he has no fear of death, nor will
  towards self-preservation.

7
AND

• He is compassionate (pg 223-224 226)

8
This leads to

• The preservation of the whole species Instead
  of Do to others as you would have them do unto
  you, the natural maxim is Do good to yourself
  with as little evil as possible to others.
• Note this is positive, other negative.

9
If not rational

• What distinguishes us from the beasties?
• Freedom of will
• perfectability

10
So

• We (men) are driven into familial relationships
  which soften us through natural need (guess
  which!).
• This produces language, and leads to (and serves
  as the model of) society.

11
True founding

• Of civil society is in the founding of property
  (Book 2).

12
Now

• Man lives for others, no longer for himself.
• That makes him miserable.

13
At some point

• Some wealthy guy figures out that a social
  contract will help him protect his wealth, and
  free him from his obligations to others.

14
Thus

• The differences in social contracts, as existing,
  results from the differences in the social
  inequalities found in the society at the time of
  the social contract.

15

• Monarchy one man was pre-eminent in power,
  virtue, riches or personal magistrate.
• Aristocracy many were pre-eminent, none above
  the rest.
• Democracy social contract arrived at early when
  moving from the state of nature.

16
Legitimacy

• There must be a government (for we cant go back
  it will just be the will of the stronger), and
  it may take the form of one of the above.
• In any case, the right to rule is derived from
  the people and exercised only so long as it
  please them.

17

• -and since the two other putative sources of
  power nature and divine right have been set
  aside by previous argument, only the will of the
  people remain.

18
And...

• All three lead to bad things the most important
  of which is that the honor of defending the
  common cause is usurped by the standing
  government against the will of the people.

19
So

• In order to reestablish the empowered,
  responsible man, given the realities of the
  post-social contract environment

20
Proposal

• That all laws be enacted by the general will.
  This is not mere absolute democracy, as the will
  is general in two senses

21

• (1) It is the will of the people in general
• (2) Laws are not particular to any man.
• This entails that there shall be no factions and
  no political parties.
• Citizens who are incapable of suppressing their
  private wills will be not allowed to vote.