The Social Contract · Chapter
The Social Contract explained
Rousseau introduces the foundational problem of political right: man is born free but is everywhere in chains.
What happens
Rousseau introduces the foundational problem of political right: man is born free but is everywhere in chains. He argues that no natural authority exists except that which is established by convention, and he sets out to discover the principles of legitimate political authority through the social contract.
Themes in this chapter
The Social Contract
The central theme of the chapter: the search for a legitimate political order based on a covenant among free individuals.
Critique of Despotism and Slavery
Rousseau refutes the idea that slavery or absolute authority can be justified by right or convention.
Characters to notice
- Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Author and narrator, presenting the principles of political right.
- Hugo Grotius
Cited as a thinker who denies that all human power is established for the benefit of the governed.
- Aristotle
Mentioned for his view that men are not naturally equal, but some are born for slavery.
Key passages
“Man is born free; and everywhere he is in chains.”
Humans are naturally free, yet everywhere they are subjected to constraints imposed by society.
Opening statement that frames the central problem of the book.
“The strongest is never strong enough to be always the master, unless he transforms strength into right, and obedience into duty.”
Mere power is insufficient to sustain dominance; it must be accepted as legitimate authority by the subordinate.
Rousseau argues that might does not make right, and that legitimate authority requires consent.