ABSTRACT
The central theme of the Contrat social is the attempt to put into political terms the concept of freedom in society. The criticism may be made that this is exactly the contrary of Jean Jacques Rousseau’s usual explanation of the origin of political society, which seems to imply a total abnegation of individual liberty. Rousseau’s law of nature is in fact the law of reason; innate in natural man, it develops, as his reason develops, with social life, outside which morality, reason, and liberty are inconceivable. The validity of the criticism directed against Rousseau’s, as against any other theory of sovereignty, depends on the way in which it is interpreted, and it must be recognized that his theory has features peculiar to itself. Every critic has noted Rousseau’s insistence on the unitary nature of sovereignty, and its freedom from the bonds of constitutional law. The sovereignty of the general will represents an attempt to justify philosophically the rule of law.
