Rousseau: The Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen
This is a paper that argues and proves how Rousseau would have reacted to the Declaration of Rights in the light of the French Revolutionaries. It has 3 sources.
The Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen produced by the French Revolutionaries is considered as one of the founding documents of the human rights tradition. This paper argues that the document accurately represents Rousseau concept of the "Social Contract" and that it had a foremost influence on the intellectual development of the French Revolution. The paper concludes that Rousseau would have agreed to most of the "Articles" in the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen, as it ensures both liberty and equality among men, two of the most fundamental concept in Rousseau's political philosophy.
Discussion
Jean-Jacques Rousseau was one of the prolific western thinkers who believed that human beings are inherently good and are capable of achieving the highest good. According to Rousseau man in his primitive age was innocent but he was made cruel, selfish and hedonist by the social structures. He believed that society's attempt to become civilized has actually made them worse in terms of injustice. He further argued that governments have become so strong and powerful that they have crushed individual liberty [Rousseau, 207-238]. He concluded that governments have not only crushed individual liberty but the unequal distribution of wealth among the population has also undermined sincere...
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