Analysis of the concept of volonté générale in the social contract of Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Abstract

Our intention in this article is to study the concept of general will in Social Contract of Rousseau. The methodology applied to this research is critical analysis of bibliographic documents. Its problem is to interrogate the main aspects of the Rousseauian volonté générale. Understanding that this is a central concept in his political thought, we understand that it is linked to our entire object of study, as everything in the Social Contract refers to the general will. In this sense, being aware of the aforementioned context, it is our mission to delimit our study given the limitations of this work. To this end, we will evaluate the general will from three aspects : the danger of selfishness for the republican spirit ; the definition of the law; and the sovereignty of the general will.