Jean-Jacques Rousseau's The Social Contract

Read this text. As you read The Social Contract, consider the United States Constitution, particularly as amended by The Bill of Rights. Many of the concepts therein originate with Socrates and Aristotle, but come into their own as fully formed foundational principles through the US Founding Fathers' reliance upon and interpretation of Rousseau.

Study Guide Questions:

  1. Can individuals be free, in the aftermath of Rousseau's social contract that involves the "total alienation of each associate of himself and all his rights to the whole community"?
  2. What does Rousseau mean by a "moral freedom which...makes man the master of himself"?
Click http://web.archive.org/web/20160309024107/http://www.gutenberg.org/files/46333/46333-h/46333-h.htm#BOOK_I link to open resource.