The Social Contract

Rating:
Summary: Alexis de Tocqueville's Nemesis
Review: 'The tyranny of the majority' - a brilliant phrase coined by the author of 'Democracy In America' and a brilliant chink in the armour of Rousseau's societal vision. An individual who owes everything to the state cannot conceivably be called an 'individual.' They are, rather, reduced to being an automated cog in the wheel of human motion. Their very individuality is subsumed to serve the will of the collective. This cannot be right. Minorities must be protected. If not, they will find a way. However, I agree, as Orwell did, that there must be a rejection of 'every form of man's dominion over man.' We are equal but different. This paradox resists neat hyperbole.

Rating:
Summary: Romanticism is dead... Long live Romanticism!
Review: 200 years can't make a bad idea good. (Heck, Christianity has proved that 1700 years can't make a bad idea good) Rousseau bogs himself down in the same contradiction that has plagued all followers of the right hand path- the fact that there is no "great return" destroys his entire thesis. Skip this guy- read Thomas Hobbes, Nicolo Machiavelli, or Friedrich Nietzsche. They were political philosophers. Rousseau was just a sophist.

Rating:
Summary: Influential and interesting book
Review: Deeply influential book, "The Social Contract" is a "must read" for anybody interested in the history of political ideas, or even in history. It had a big influence on the French Revolution, and in many movements after it that considered that the individual owes everything to the state.

After reading this book you will be astounded by the insight that Rousseau (1712-1778) showed. He explains us, among other things, the reason for the formation of political society, and the origin of the social contract.

I believe this is a good book to start a study on political ideas. It is simple and well written, it has had an important political impact and can make you curious enough to know more. If you are interested, read also a book about the history of political ideas (for example the one written by George Sabine), because it can guide you to other interesting books, and can give you a deeper insight into the ideas, circumstances and life of Rousseau.

Rating:
Summary: Influential and interesting book
Review: Deeply influential book, "The Social Contract" is a "must read" for anybody interested in the history of political ideas, or even in history. It had a big influence on the French Revolution, and in many movements after it that considered that the individual owes everything to the state.

After reading this book you will be astounded by the insight that Rousseau (1712-1778) showed. He explains us, among other things, the reason for the formation of political society, and the origin of the social contract.

I believe this is a good book to start a study on political ideas. It is simple and well written, it has had an important political impact and can make you curious enough to know more. If you are interested, read also a book about the history of political ideas (for example the one written by George Sabine), because it can guide you to other interesting books, and can give you a deeper insight into the ideas, circumstances and life of Rousseau.

Rating:
Summary: one of humanities greatest literary achievements
Review: Elucidating the fundamental tenets of social welfare and humanitarianism which have yet to be achieved in most of the world, Rousseaufs gSocial Contracth remains one of humanities greatest literary achievements. Page after riveting page, Rousseau outlines his advocacy of universal emancipation, anti-authoritarianism and equality of condition. Rousseaufs gSocial Contracth is controversial only in that much of what he wrote has proven to be historically irrefutable and, sadly, more relevant than ever in todayfs in-egalitarian world.

Rating:
Summary: Good old days today
Review: I first read the Social Contract back in college. Then, it was but one piece of philosophy/political writings out of many. I ran across the book again a few months ago and decided to give it a second reading. I was very happy that I did. In these uncertain times, the truth and role of government becomes cloudy. Rousseau's work helped to remind me that the government should serve the people and humanity in general. This is an idea that really seems to have been lost, especially under the Bush administration. Although I do not agree with everything Rousseau writes, I would recommend this work to anyone to read this and reflect on its modern context. "Man was born free, and he is everywhere in chains."

Rating:
Summary: Brilliant ideas regarding a model society
Review: Inspired by the unfair treatment of France by their king, J.J. Rousseau wrote this book and ideology based on the equality of men. In this book, Rousseau gives the reader detailed information on his view of the model society. The reader is consumed by the principle stating that no man has any authority over the other, and the balance of man's losses and gains gives the reader a sense of hope in this form of community. This is a must-read for any lover of deep thought and classic literature.

Rating:
Summary: Great Intellectual
Review: Jean Jacques Rousseau is truly a great intellectual.His Discourses and The Social Contract are some of the best in Enlightenment thinking. In the Discourses Rousseau exalts the "noble" savage free from the corrupting influence of modern civilization. He believes that civilization has corrupted man from his original, yet ignorant state. I found the Discourses to be a little flighty and unrealistic. The Social Contract was a different story altogether. This is a monumental work. In it Rousseau shows his vast knowledge of the Roman Republic and Empire and the reasons for it's rise and collapse. Rousseau also denounces monarchy and aristocracy as forms of government and exalts republicanism. He also decries the power of organized religion in the oppression of mankind. With his "General Will" theory of the social contract he shows true brilliance. A great buy.

Rating:
Summary: Relations among human systems
Review: Let's be brief: The Social Contract is, I strongly believe, an objective and deep description of what Rousseau sees as human systems, i.e., the global mechanism of humanly founded institutions. If you want to give yourself a solid basis for understanding the world you live in today, I mean politically and socially speaking, this is the most wanted book. No other philosophers, including Hobbes, have attained this level of precision and understanding of the original political foundations.

Rating:
Summary: A thunderstorm that clears the air...but passes...
Review: Rousseau's "Contract Social" has originated many false beliefs that are, though sometimes unwittingly, still even entertained today, such as the "Noble Savage", the originary state of the individual (allegedly in a condition of primordial solitude and self-relaince), a social bond or contract (the historicity of which is extremely suspect) by which separate individuals agree to form a social union (a society or polity) and the gross fallacy of the innate goodness of man. This work, the product of a morbidly paranoid Genevan who had the callousness and audacity to leave his five children abandoned in an orphanage, owes its impact mainly to the fire of its eloquence rather than to any of its ideas, which are of no lasting merit. Like a thunderstorm, it cleared the air, only to pass...