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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
This 4 page paper examines Rousseau's The Social Contract and how the nature of man is depicted. Freedom is discussed.
No additional sources cited.
Page Count:
4 pages (~225 words per page)
File: RT13_SA617man.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
environment dictates how man will act. This is similar to a blank slate ideology where man is born and the influences around him are the most significant. Thus, man does
not have a positive or negative nature necessarily. Therefore, although the society limits freedom, it seems that the only way to correct things, or make the world livable, is to
implement a social contract. It allows some give and take. Rousseau (1968) explains: "What man loses by the social contract is his natural liberty and the absolute right to anything
that tempts him and that he can take" (p.65). This suggests a very practical state of affairs. People would simply take what they liked if there were no rules. They
would steal, rape and murder when it suited them. This is true even though man is not necessarily bad. For example, the society is set up with different levels of
affluence and people at the lowest ends might see themselves as being deprived. Therefore, they reason that they should take something from another even though it does not belong to
them. Petty thieves do this today as do workers who embezzle money. There is a rationalization for the acts. Hence, if there were no laws against theft, a pauper might
think that he had the right to take riches from other people simply to level the playing field. The law keeps people in check. Rousseau (1968) also says that he
assumes that "men reach a point where the obstacles to their preservation in a state of nature prove greater than the strength that each man has to preserve himself in
that state" (p.11). There is a rationale for creating a society that is dependent on others for different things. The society has set up rules and regulations and a system
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