Liberty and the State in the philosophy of Jean-Jacques Rousseau

On the face of it, freedom and the state appear to be incompatible notions that can be set against each other in an easy antithesis on the terrain of socio-political realities. Their respective requirements seem contradictory. But on closer examination, we discover that freedom and the state are bound to be complementary and compatible, if we advocate sustainable human development in societies undergoing rapid change. The State is that of a free people called to freedom, established in freedom, by and for the people. The aim of this book is to address three interrelated issues: how freedom can be reconciled with the state, in the light of Jean-Jacques Rousseau's philosophy; how the demands of the state can impede the development of individual freedom; and how to find the best form of government to improve the lives of citizens. In the first part of the book, we attempt to provide answers to all these concerns by showing that freedom is natural to man, indeed congenital to him, and constitutes a political value.