The Social Construct By Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Freedom is a very broad term and it is subject to many different interpretations, such as the example given by Jean-Jacques Rousseau on his book The Social Construct. He stated that “Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains”, implying that no individual is truly free. He believes that people have the right to be free but are not able to be for they are enslaved to the societies that they belong in. Though this may sound a bit negative, Rosseau talks about when it is proper to do such a thing, to “enslave” the people. He states that it is acceptable to put the people in “chains” when the people agree to be put to “chains”. This means that repressing freedom is not always bad as long as the people agree to it and believe that it is for their own benefit.
Rousseau believes that humans are born naturally good. He states that naturally, individuals are born with a sense of love for themselves that is real and unbiased. Rousseau also reasons that the social interactions that individuals undergo, is what corrupts it and lessens its authenticity. Rousseau indicates that in the natural state of things mankind can live harmoniously with one another, but as societies were established comes the problems that we have today. Rosseau says that going back to this nature is the way to go, he states that artificial systems should be removed
from our society. He believes that mankind should allow the natural process of things to shape the society that we live in today.
Compassion plays a big role in Rosseau’s view, he believes that compassion is the only reason that a man is kept free.
It is the main reason why enslavement is not a thing in our society. It is because humanity’s ability to feel compassion and pity toward each other is what makes the society a better place. Compassion is a lot different from self love that Rosseau also talks about. Self love is by definition the love that we have for ourselves, which leads to individuals looking for things that would benefit themselves, whereas compassion is what drives these same individuals to care for and think about the good of
others.
Conventions are the concordats that are agreed upon by the people. One of Rosseau’s example is when a son chooses to live with his father even when he comes of age. He states that this is not part of human nature and that it is the individuals choice to do so and that he does this because a certain individual or certain individuals believe that it is for the greater good, and in the case of the son and the father, they may think that it is better for them to continue to live together even when given the choice to not do so. This goes back to the concept of repressing freedom that is agreed upon by individuals, stating that these conventions are made for the society and by the society for it believes that it is for the greater good of everyone. Rosseau’s views on freedom is truly fascinating and it would be very interesting to see how our society would shape if all of these will be acted upon.