Biography
Rousseau's birthplace
Geneva, Switzerland
What is the concept that Rousseau argues cannot be justified by physical power alone?
The Right of the Strongest
The collective will of the people as a whole, which Rousseau argues should be the basis of legitimate political authority.
General Will
What is the paradox in the opening line of the text?
"Man is born free, but everywhere he is in chains."
Jean-Jacques Rousseau was born in this year
1712
He argues that this is a relation between States and not individuals
War
The organized society that results from the social contract, as opposed to the state of nature.
Civil Society
Rousseau says the sovereign can’t do this, as it would go against the original social contract.
Restrict its own Power
The field in which Rousseau's work is best known (job)
Philosophy
What is the term Rousseau uses to describe submitting to force, which he claims is an act done out of necessity, not free will?
Yielding
A form of government in which a single ruler or a small group wields absolute power, often in oppressive ways, contradicting the principles of the social contract
Tyranny
This term describes the process where individuals give up their natural rights to the community, gaining equal rights over others as they relinquish their own.
Total Alienation
Where he moved and met other great thinkers
Paris, France
These two words at the ends of the reading are contradictory and mutually exclusive
"slave" and "right"
A hypothetical condition that precedes civilization, where individuals exist without government or a social contract.
State of Nature
Why does Rousseau see giving up one’s liberty as ‘absurd and inconceivable’?
It means losing one’s humanity, rights, self-interest, and the reason for forming a society.
Rousseau wrote this famous book that begins with the line "Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains"
Rousseau's 'Social Contract'
why did Rousseau criticise Grotius's argument that people can give themselves to a king?
"people must exist before it can give themselves away"
The supreme power or authority in a state, which Rousseau argues should reside with the people as a collective body.
Sovereignty
Rousseau’s idea of popular sovereignty has influenced this action when the social contract is broken.
Revolution