Rousseau first aims to show that it is theoretically possible for humans to live under a state without sacrificing their freedom. For Rousseau, the social contract helps people convert their “natural freedom” into a higher “civil freedom” that truly enables them to realize their potential. Rousseau, however, argues that a well-founded and well-run society is actually the source of true human freedom. Hobbes believed that people renounce their freedom to society, whereas Locke saw society as a means of preserving God-given natural rights. In The Social Contract, Jean-Jacques Rousseau asks where human society comes from and whether it can be founded on “any legitimate and sure principle.” Like his famous predecessors Thomas Hobbes and John Locke, Rousseau concludes that people form society by making an agreement-or social contract-in which they sacrifice some of their own freedom in exchange for certain rights.
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