Jean Domat, Montesquieu And Jean Jacques Rousseau

Throughout this book, Montesquieu touched up on other governments and even earlier governments. He described ways a government should be made up, and he centered in on one idea. This idea was to create three branches of government which were the legislative, executive, and judicial. These were to be used for different causes and could check the others power so one branch doesn’t get too powerful and disrupt its citizens liberties. About 50 years later, these ideas would soon influence a growing nation’s government.

What entity dictates life on the most fundamental level? Is it the government or the people who permit the government to exist? This is the main point of contention between Baron de Montesquieu 's Spirit of Laws and Jean-Jacques Rousseau 's On the Social Contract. Interestingly, their interpretation of different forms of government converge on the sovereignty of a democracy, but that is where most of their common ground lies. While Rousseau shares similarities on the sovereign authority of a democracy with Montesquieu, he departs by arguing how regardless of government, sovereignty always rests in the hands of the people. He also disagrees on how the populace should participate in the democracy and on their representation in government, making his principles more relevant today.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau was a Swiss-born French Enlightenment thinker most famous for the 1762, “The Social Contract.” “The Social Contract” is Rousseau’s most valued work due to its ties within the French Revolution.

Rousseau believes that even when one votes in the minority they can obey the law and still be free. But, “how can the opposing minority be both free and subject to laws to which they have not consented?” (Rousseau, pg. 153) Rousseau’s response is that citizens must consent to all the laws because “ to inhabit the territory is to submit to the sovereign.”(Rousseau, p.153) In accordance with the social contract, when a citizen votes they should completely surrender their personal interest and vote for what they believe to be the general will. The general will of each individual is considered to be their real will when it comes to social policy. The majority vote will depict the general will, and the

He was a French philosopher that believe the government should have separation of powers (505). In 1748, he wrote his famous work, The Spirit of the Laws. This article was a comparison of authority which determine the natural laws that govern society. He was noteworthy for three basic types of governments: a republic, a monarchy and a despotism (506). A republic governments is one that is ruled by an elected official and is better for a small-scale state (506). A monarchy is typically controlled by a king or queen and is better suited for the middle-sized states. An finally, a despotism is governed by a dictator and instills fear in the people, this is best for a larger

Rousseau further emphasizes this idea by stating that “Government . . is wrongly confused with the sovereign, whose agent it is. What then is government? It is an intermediary body established between the subjects and the sovereign to keep them in touch with each other. It is charged with executing the laws and maintaining both civil and political liberty....

Topic #1 Jean-Jacques Rousseau makes the provocative claim that the transfer of sovereignty involves in the election of representatives signifies a loss of freedom: "The instant a people chooses representatives, it is no longer free." (On the Social Contract, p.103) Do you agree with Rousseau?

The Enlightenment era brought forth the significance of humanism and reason, concepts that creates a balance between humanity’s tendency to express emotions, simultaneously, cultivating rational logic explaining such interactions amongst society. These important concepts of the Enlightenment were illustrated through the works of Mary Wollstonecraft and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Both Rousseau and Wollstonecraft believed that children should be permitted to grow independently by learning to use their education wisely. Thus, the children would grow up to become free thinking adults that could restrain society from becoming oppressing and materialistic. Nonetheless, they both disagreed on who should receive such free education. Rousseau wants only

Machiavelli and Rousseau, both significant philosophers, had distinctive views on human nature and the relationship between the government and the governed. Their ideas were radical at the time and remain influential in government today. Their views on human nature and government had some common points and some ideas that differed.

John Locke and Jean-Jacque Rousseau were both thinkers that contributed to the notion of government by social contract in their writing by expressing their ideas of the human state of nature, natural rights and human innovation. The common goal of these two and many radical idealists is to preserve our lives and create a safe, stable society that is striving for the common good. A few of the many differences include Locke’s belief that the human state of nature is not a state of war, industrialization and human evolvement is necessary and that we have natural rights; Rousseau thought that the state of nature was preferable over any government, he did not approve of technology and he believes we have no rights. The “ideal” government has been debated by many, but these two thinkers identified revolutionary concepts that were discouraged during their time.

John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau are great political philosophers that have many similar insights about society and its political form. However, when closely examining the writings of these thinkers, one can easily discover many subtle differences among them. The two philosophers base their theories on different assumptions, which subsequently lead to dissimilar ideas about the origin of society and the constitution of governments. As a result, their views of the development of society greatly dissent from each other. Locke's and Rousseau's different versions in the development of society cause them to reach disparate conclusions concerning the legislative power, social unit, and revolution rights of the society. Locke believes that

Each and every society requires some order of a governing association. Whether the majority of the citizens rule together or whether very few magistrates control the whole of the community, there is always some type of underlying power controlling the public. Without a government or a constitution, individuals would be more enthralled to pursue their own individual will rather than a general will that would be favorable for the society as an entity. Therefore, authority is crucial within every nation. Each society throughout history has gone through the process of forming a government and taking precautions in order to establish an ideal government for the State. Throughout The Social Contract, Rousseau discusses the different concepts that a government in progress must consider before establishment and the reasons behind each notion. Rousseau examines three

Rousseau’s idea of an egalitarian government/partial sovereign-controlled government has had some influence in today’s government in America. In the Social Contract, Rousseau writes of a sovereign branch -- which contains the people -- and a government branch -- that contains magistrates. “The magistrates enforce the laws passed by the sovereign or the will of the people (Rousseau 450)” (Implementing Rousseau’s Ideas of Government in Today’s Society). This procedure is similar to how elections are held today.

Rousseau’s theory of civil government is designed to prevent entitlement through class structure and to essentially protect mankind from the greed of itself. Despite sharing some basics of government, the feudal system was based on class structure with the nobility maintaining control over the people. Land or wealth was only shared if required to support the will or needs on the government.

Henri Julien Felix Rousseau was born May 21, 1844 in a small town in northwestern France called Laval. Rousseau grew up in a very tough, poor background with many struggles that which created who he is. With his father being in great debt, he had to move out from his town. There he went to school with below average grades, but still received prizes for his drawing and music skills. After his father’s death, Rousseau moved to Paris to help his widowed mother out. While in Paris, he found a girl who he eventually married, but later ended up dying to tuberculosis. His wife’s death is when he began taking painting seriously, in which he later quit to paint only. Rousseau claims that he had “no teacher other than nature” although did receive some tips from Felix Auguste Clement and Jean-Lean Gerome. With Rousseau self-teaching himself, he obtained a unique technique in his art work.