Beginning of Essay
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, (1712-1778) was a French social philosopher and writer. His book Du Contrat Social, ou Principes du droit politique (Social Contract) published in 1762, emphasised the rights of the people over the government and was a significant influence ....

Middle of Essay
.... his utopia of the ‘General Will’ Rousseau believed that ‘although the natural man perceived himself as an individual, he must learn to think collectively in order to create a society ’. Therefore to evolve into a humane and agreeable society people should give up their natural rights of appetite and conform to society by consenting to the process of law which has made them free - collectively consenting to the ‘general will’ - a single correct path for people to follow or the policy which is equal in everyone’s interests. Rousseau believed that it was wrong for the sovereign power over society to be held by just one man - the King. He ....