WEBVTT

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Prof: So today is Jean
Jacques Rousseau--

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I mean, one of the most
fascinating people in terms of

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his life and his ideas and the
way how he reasons.

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He is a provocative,
a provocateur,

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and an extraordinary genius,
in more than one ways.

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There are few people whom I
disagree so strongly than in

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many propositions of Jean
Jacques Rousseau.

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But there are few people who
turn my mind on so much than

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Jean Jacques.

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So who was this character?

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Let me just give you a very
brief overview.

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He was born in Geneva,
which was a city-state at that

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time--ruled by Calvin for
awhile, a Calvinist stronghold.

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We will talk about this when it
comes to Max Weber and The

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Protestant Ethic.

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Calvin ruled Geneva with an
iron hand.

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That's where he was born.

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His father was Isaac Rousseau.

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He was a watchmaker and a
Calvinist.

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Well he did run into some
trouble.

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I don't know exactly what the
trouble was.

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I think he was in debt,
so he jumped the boat and went

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to Istanbul, disappeared;
we don't know much about him

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beyond that.

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So at a very early age of ten
he was a kind of orphan.

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Then in 1728 he moved to France.

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And there was a wonderful lady,
about ten years his senior,

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Mrs. Warens,
who was running a home.

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to take seats>>

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Prof: Anyway,
so he met Mrs. Warens,

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who was a Roman Catholic,
and her mission was to convert

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these Calvinists to their proper
faith,

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Roman Catholicism-- and took
young boys into her home.

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But who knows,
it looks like she had more

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interests in people,
rather than religion.

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So he arrived '28 to Annency.

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Right?

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Age of 16, a good-looking,
nice guy.

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Madame Warens is still a
younger lady.

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Here you can see,
you know, Madame Warens and

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Jean Jacques,
meeting in 1728.

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Very romantic stuff, right?

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Well and here well another
picture.

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You know?

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Well I don't blame Jean
Jacques,

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>

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at the age of 16,
to convert to Roman Catholicism

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from the cold Calvinist
religion, and meanwhile being a

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bit romantic.

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Right?

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Well Jean Jacques is one of
those few people who wrote a

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Confession--a very funny
book.

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He has a sense of self-irony
and self-criticism.

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Whether this is genuine,
or he thought this will be the

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way how to sell the book--hard
to tell.

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But it's worth reading.

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It actually was published
posthumously.

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And he said Madame de Warens
shaped his character;

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undoubtedly she did.

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And this affair--affair,
who knows, but it looks like it

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was an affair--fascinated people
later on.

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I think I already cracked this
joke in the introductory

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lecture.

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A wonderful French writer,
Stendhal,

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in his superb novel,
Le Rouge et la Noir,

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was inspired by this
interesting affair--

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a sixteen -year -old boy and a
twenty-eight -year -old woman.

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And, in fact,
the story of Julien Sorel--it

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means Jean Jacques Rousseau--and
Madame de Renal--de Warens--is

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really the core of the story.

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So if you have not read Le
Rouge et la Noir,

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this is a must for an Ivy
League graduate.

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You don't want to get a degree
from Yale not having read

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Stendhal, Le Rouge et la
Noir.

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It's, of course, in English.

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But, you know, enough is enough.

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In '42, several years later,
Rousseau has now bigger aims

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and he moves to Paris.

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And he becomes the secretary of
Comte de Montaigue who is a

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French ambassador to Venice.

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And there are a lot of nice
things--interesting

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things--about Rousseau,
but he was not an easy guy,

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and somehow he always ran into
trouble.

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So he ran into trouble in
Venice, and in order to avoid

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arrest and trouble--
I don't know exactly what he

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did, probably something
financially not quite correct--

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he had to jump and leave Venice
and Comte de Montaigue.

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He moves to Paris,
and he knows how to find good

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friends.

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He also will know how to make
great enemies from his good

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friends.

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So he meets Diderot.

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And we already know Diderot,
and we know already

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And he was asked to write an
article on music for the

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And this is Diderot.

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Lavasseur was a maid in this
hotel,

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and a long-lasting relationship
develops between the two which--

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well I already told you,
don't worry if you don't marry

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instantly.

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He was not married instantly
either.

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It took him some time to decide
that this date should actually

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culminate in a legal marriage.

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She became a companion for all
of his life.

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Well I would not bet my life
that she was,

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for the rest of life,
the only woman in his life,

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but certainly she was his
companion.

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I don't know about her.

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They married in '68.

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So you can see it took some
time for Rousseau to say,

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"Well this is something
which should end up in a

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marriage."

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And here is--okay,
here you can see that,

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Well I hope you don't mind I
show you these pictures;

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they don't tell all that much.

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Well Jean Jacques,
as I said, was an extraordinary

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genius.

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He is not only a philosopher,
not only a social scientist,

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not only a scientist--he was
writing on science as well--he

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was an artist.

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And well, you know,
anybody can write a novel,

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right?

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I am sure half of this class
considered at one point in your

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life that you will write poetry
or you will write a novel.

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Right?

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It's easy;
you sit down and you write a

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novel.

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My life is a novel, right?

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Most people say that.

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But Jean Jacques wrote an opera.

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Probably few of you considered
to write an opera.

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Right?

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That needs skills. Right?

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And he did one,
Le Devin du Village.

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I own a CD.

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It's a wonderful opera.

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He's a great composer. Right?

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Well that's quite unusual.

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And, to make it even more
interesting,

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he was in an intense debate--he
was always in an intense debate

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with everybody--
but he was in an intense debate

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with Rameau.

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And those of you who are a
little familiar with music,

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you know Rameau.

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Rameau was the greatest French
composer of the eighteenth

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century, and they had a big
debate because Rousseau believed

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in the Italian opera.

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Right?

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He believed that the melody
should have precedence over

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harmony,
and Rameau wanted to create a

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French opera in which,
you know, melody is not so

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important,
and in fact the harmony is more

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important.

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It was a revolutionary break.

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Rameau paves,
you know--creates a new space

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for the new music.

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In some ways he's beginning to
pave the way,

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what we eventually will know as
modern music--an extraordinary

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composer.

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Well and Rousseau believed in
bel canto,

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Pavarotti.

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I know, of course there was no
Pavarotti at that time.

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But you know what bel
canto is--Ave Maria.

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Right?

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You create a cry,
you can sing it.

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Right?

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That's what he really believed
in, unlike Rameau who was much

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more analytical and emphasized
harmony.

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Interestingly,
the person whom I think is the

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greatest composer of all
history,

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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart,
loved Rousseau,

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and he wrote an opera what can
be very rarely seen--

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occasionally you can catch it
in the Metropolitan Opera of

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Arts,
once in a decade-- Bastien

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und Bastienne,
which was actually inspired by

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Le Devin du Village.

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Go on amazon.com,
you can buy Rameau,

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you can buy Bastien und
Bastienne,

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and you can buy Le Devin du
Village,

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and you can see the differences.

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And he, of course,
publishes a novel,

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which at that time was an
influential novel.

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I don't think too many people
read it today.

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Well this is Rameau,
and Rameau shadowed modern

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music.

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Gluck, in particular,
follows from Rameau.

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In fact, you know,
Mozart will be changing in his

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lifetime.

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We will talk--well I
thought--if there is a musician

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you can read a little Rameau
here.

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Interestingly,
you know, Mozart did not stick

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quite to the Italian opera over
his life.

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The Magic Flute, is the
first German opera.

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The earlier Mozart is very much
Italian opera.

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Later in life,
Mozart tried to create German

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opera, which has some
similarities with the French

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music--not quite,
because it's more romantic.

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Okay, he is also a philosopher,
scientist, political

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theorist--I also would say
sociologist and political

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scientist.

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The first piece of work is
actually science,

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art, and study of society.

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Then in 1755,
he writes a very interesting

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book--
if you have spare time,

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read it--Discourse on the
Origins of Inequality--

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Again, a very provocative book.

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In some ways there is some sort
of Hobbesian idea behind that.

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He said, well it starts with
love, but if you are really in

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love, well you tend to be
jealous.

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Right?

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If you are deeply in love,
passionately in love,

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then you don't like that the
person who is the object of your

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love may have a love in somebody
else;

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then you are jealous.

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And the idea is--this is the
origins of inequality;

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we are jealous, right?

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There is one precious good--to
put it with Hobbes--

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we all desire,
and if somebody else desires it

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as well,
and has a shot at it,

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to get it, then we become
jealous, right?

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We want to grab it,
we want to monopolize it.

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So this is a source of
inequality, right?

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Well an interesting idea, right?

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Have you ever experienced that?

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Did you have occasionally a
little sense of jealousy in you,

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and thinking no,
this other one should not have

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the one I do have?

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I think you probably did.

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I did.

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Okay.

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And then comes the big year:
'62.

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He publishes two major books in
one year, two big scandals:

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And I will talk to Social
Contract today,

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Social Contract is
really a culmination of the

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contractarian argument.

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Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau did
some extraordinary important new

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innovations.

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Right?

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As we have seen,
in the first contractarian,

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Hobbes had a somewhat limited
idea of social contract;

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probably realistic but not what
you necessarily like.

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He said a social contract is
not something what you concluded

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with the authority,
right?

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Social contract,
what you entered by fear,

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and social contract which was
done previously because you

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wanted to have a new contract is
binding on you.

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Right?

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Locke tended to see a social
contract as sort of between the

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individual and the commonwealth.

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This is a nice idea,
that you are bound by a

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contract you signed.

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But, you know,
those of you at least who were

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born in these United States,
never signed a contract to

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accept the Constitution.

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I am a naturalized citizen.

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You can say I signed a
contract.

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Right?

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I had to swear allegiance to
the United States.

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At that time I was supposed to
read the Constitution.

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I have not read it from cover
to cover.

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But anyway, I signed a contract
somewhat unseen--you

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know?--suspecting what the
contract is I'm signing.

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But most of you,
born in the States,

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never signed a contract.

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Right?

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It's still binding on you.

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Right?

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Unless you decide to abandon
the U.S.

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citizenship and become a
citizen of North Korea.

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Right?

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Then you are bound by this
social contract.

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So that is, you know,
the difference between Hobbes

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and Locke, as we discussed.

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Now Rousseau,
as we will see,

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adds a new, interesting
element.

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He said, well,
it's not quite the individuals,

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and he introduces the notion of
general will.

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There is a general will which
is well above the

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individuals--extremely important
idea, has a degree of insights

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and realism.

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It's also a very dangerous idea.

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Totalitarian regimes very often
advocate it.

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General will that you--and I
will quote Jean Jacques for you

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when he said,
"the individuals will have

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to be forced to be free";
that follows from the idea of

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general will.

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Well he's a complex thinker--
liberal on one hand,

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a contractarian on the other
hand, and paves the road to

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totalitarianism.

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He was loved by many liberals,
and he was loved by many

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totalitarians--
like Karl Marx loved him,

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like Vladimir Ilyich Lenin
loved him,

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because of the general will.

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But Durkheim loved him too,
and he was a liberal.

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So there he is.

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I already mentioned,
any one of you,

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and there are probably a few
people who will end up in

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education, you have to read this
book cover to cover.

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This is no modern major
education theory without the

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This is the foundation of
modern educational theory.

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Okay, he had a big impact:
a big impact on the American

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Constitution,
and the French Revolution.

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He's one of the path-breakers
on the French Revolution.

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He was also the first who
advocated popular sovereignty,

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the abolishment of the Third
Estate, and creating one

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popularly elected body.

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Right?

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Strong conflict with
Montesquieu who wanted to have

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two chambers,
one for the aristocracy and one

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for the people;
Rousseau wanted to have one.

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Universal suffrage,
except for women;

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well he was a male chauvinist
pig in one way.

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Well, and as we will see,
the idea of general will were

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picked up by the radicals of the
French Revolution,

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the Jacobins,
and was picked up by later

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Communists of various types,
be it Leninists or Maoists.

23:16.509 --> 23:21.759
Well the general will and
French radicalism led to

23:21.762 --> 23:23.052
bloodshed.

23:23.048 --> 23:28.948
Robespierre,
the major disciple and believer

23:28.948 --> 23:35.668
of general will,
his head was also chopped off.

23:35.670 --> 23:39.980
Well, so much about it.

23:39.980 --> 23:43.130
Now Rousseau did not live the
French Revolution;

23:43.130 --> 23:45.660
his ideas did, and informed it.

23:45.660 --> 23:51.170
He had to move in '62 in exile
because both books created an

23:51.170 --> 23:54.720
outrage, particularly by the
church.

23:54.720 --> 23:59.750
First he went back to Geneva,
but figured out he doesn't like

23:59.751 --> 24:01.431
Geneva any longer.

24:01.430 --> 24:05.530
So David Hume,
the conservative philosopher

24:05.529 --> 24:10.899
who admired his work,
invited him to come to England.

24:10.900 --> 24:16.570
And like with everybody else
who was his friend,

24:16.573 --> 24:20.923
he had a fall-out with David
Hume.

24:20.920 --> 24:24.920
He was really a difficult guy,
right?

24:24.920 --> 24:26.800
This is David Hume.

24:26.798 --> 24:32.388
And therefore he left England
and he returned to France--lived

24:32.387 --> 24:38.247
for a long time under an assumed
name to make sure he doesn't get

24:38.251 --> 24:39.811
into trouble.

24:39.808 --> 24:42.008
Finally, '68,
he married

24:47.338 --> 24:51.858
They had several children,
and the greatest educational

24:51.864 --> 24:55.554
theorist who tells you how to
raise children,

24:55.550 --> 24:59.490
he put all of his children in
an orphanage.

24:59.490 --> 25:02.930
He was a real bastard,
to put it another way.

25:02.930 --> 25:09.650
And then he was writing his
Confessions,

25:09.646 --> 25:14.316
which was published
posthumously,

25:14.319 --> 25:19.139
and he died in '78,
July 2nd.

25:19.140 --> 25:25.350
So this is the author we will
be discussing today,

25:25.349 --> 25:31.179
and we will also be also
discussing Tuesday.

25:31.180 --> 25:38.960
And I hope I will have enough
time between I get home and

25:38.957 --> 25:46.357
before the limo comes,
so I can put this on the

25:46.363 --> 25:54.233
internet, so you can read this
on the internet.

25:54.230 --> 26:01.910
This is, if right,
the Social Contract.

26:01.910 --> 26:06.550
Yes.

26:06.549 --> 26:11.929
Social Contract, 1782.

26:11.930 --> 26:15.880
And I don't know why,
but I like to show you the

26:15.875 --> 26:21.155
first editions-- doesn't take me
too much time to find it on the

26:21.164 --> 26:24.444
internet, but occasionally it
does.

26:24.440 --> 26:27.970
Okay, so what the Social
Contract is all about?

26:27.970 --> 26:34.290
Book I is a description how you
move from natural right--from

26:34.287 --> 26:38.707
the state of nature--to
political right.

26:38.710 --> 26:45.150
The second book is the
sovereign and how the sovereign

26:45.150 --> 26:49.160
should be constructed,
created.

26:49.160 --> 26:53.760
This is an issue which Locke
did not pay much attention to.

26:53.763 --> 26:54.403
Right?

26:54.400 --> 27:00.640
We will see,
you know, Rousseau himself

27:00.644 --> 27:05.254
likes elected,
selected aristocracy,

27:05.248 --> 27:10.148
but he's beginning to think
about universal suffrage and a

27:10.154 --> 27:13.604
proper constitution of the
sovereign.

27:13.598 --> 27:19.198
Then he has a big section on
government, a section on ancient

27:19.202 --> 27:21.632
Rome and civil religion.

27:21.630 --> 27:26.700
I will talk--well I don't have
much time--I will try to talk

27:26.696 --> 27:29.356
about civil religion as well.

27:29.359 --> 27:31.039
So what are the major themes?

27:31.038 --> 27:35.838
One question is what is
legitimate rule?

27:35.838 --> 27:41.658
And he said rule is only
legitimate when it is arrived at

27:41.660 --> 27:42.700
consent.

27:42.700 --> 27:49.120
But, he said,
justice has to be diluted

27:49.115 --> 27:55.525
because general will has to
prevail.

27:55.529 --> 28:00.229
I will have to talk a little
about justice being diluted.

28:00.230 --> 28:05.560
The problem is there is no
universal justice--what you can

28:05.559 --> 28:09.019
arrive at from the individual
will.

28:09.019 --> 28:15.309
There is a general will,
and a conception of the common

28:15.307 --> 28:18.667
good,
and the individual-- whether

28:18.669 --> 28:21.879
the individual is done justice
to,--

28:21.880 --> 28:27.090
it has to be diluted,
it has to be restricted by the

28:27.086 --> 28:32.136
demands of the collective will,
of the collective good.

28:32.140 --> 28:34.440
Now this is a provocative
statement.

28:34.440 --> 28:38.040
It certainly has a kernel of
truth.

28:38.038 --> 28:43.458
It's also a very dangerous
argument because it opens up the

28:43.462 --> 28:47.912
rule for a totalitarian state,
which will tell you,

28:47.914 --> 28:50.854
"Oh, you think this is
your interest?

28:50.848 --> 28:54.088
What you think is your interest
is not really your interest.

28:54.088 --> 28:58.358
Me, the sovereign,
knows what is in your interest,

28:58.357 --> 29:01.317
and I will force you to be
free.

29:01.318 --> 29:05.368
I will force you to understand
what is in your interest."

29:05.368 --> 29:10.118
That is a bit of a tricky
argument which has been abused

29:10.116 --> 29:11.236
in history.

29:11.240 --> 29:15.900
That's what the notion diluted
refers to.

29:15.900 --> 29:21.680
Now he advocates for popular
sovereignty and the need for

29:21.678 --> 29:23.018
convention.

29:23.019 --> 29:27.559
Well the argument is the
individual express only

29:27.560 --> 29:33.800
individual interests,
and therefore the general will

29:33.797 --> 29:39.717
is not the will of--
not simply the sum total of

29:39.720 --> 29:41.840
individual wills.

29:41.838 --> 29:46.368
He is a methodological
collectivist,

29:46.373 --> 29:49.873
as I already pointed out.

29:49.868 --> 29:52.908
And then it comes to the
lawgiver.

29:52.910 --> 29:59.040
Well it is the lawgiver who
actually can inspire what he

29:59.038 --> 30:02.158
calls amour-propre.

30:02.160 --> 30:07.630
You need a lawgiver--he sees
himself as a lawgiver--

30:07.630 --> 30:13.920
who actually will be able to
tell you why your selfishness is

30:13.916 --> 30:17.596
no good--
why the love of your country

30:17.596 --> 30:21.386
and the community is the right
thing to go.

30:21.386 --> 30:22.106
Okay.

30:22.108 --> 30:27.778
And a good government means a
popularly elected legislature.

30:27.778 --> 30:32.268
And the executive is still by
an aristocracy,

30:32.272 --> 30:38.302
by the wise man--that's what he
really means by aristocracy,

30:38.298 --> 30:43.098
an intellectual aristocracy who
is elected.

30:43.098 --> 30:46.728
Well we have somewhat this
notion, that people in

30:46.728 --> 30:49.448
government should be smart,
right?

30:49.450 --> 30:53.670
And we have a bit of concern
with--you know,

30:53.670 --> 30:57.050
in the past there were some
presidents in the United States,

30:57.048 --> 31:01.308
some people in the United
States thought they are not all

31:01.307 --> 31:02.137
that smart.

31:02.144 --> 31:02.834
Right?

31:02.828 --> 31:07.358
I don't want to name names,
but you can think probably of

31:07.364 --> 31:12.064
some--why some people thought
they are a little on the dumb

31:12.060 --> 31:12.790
side.

31:12.788 --> 31:18.818
And they did not earn very much
respect by those who think they

31:18.815 --> 31:20.365
are not smart.

31:20.369 --> 31:21.899
Anyway, that's it.

31:21.900 --> 31:24.810
So legitimate rule.

31:24.808 --> 31:29.268
Well legitimate rule cannot be
based on natural title,

31:29.266 --> 31:30.776
not aristocracy.

31:30.778 --> 31:35.498
It has to be authorized by
consent.

31:35.500 --> 31:41.020
Well I'll leave the family
issue, that's--family,

31:41.017 --> 31:45.497
he said, is the only natural
society.

31:45.500 --> 31:52.090
But he said even the family
does not come simply from

31:52.088 --> 31:53.228
nature.

31:53.230 --> 31:56.900
There is a social contract in
the family,

31:56.900 --> 32:02.810
and in fact when you grow
up--when you are not a small

32:02.813 --> 32:07.133
child anymore--
then you will realize how much

32:07.126 --> 32:08.816
of a contract it is.

32:08.818 --> 32:13.638
Eventually--I hope there is
nobody in this room,

32:13.640 --> 32:19.080
but I suspect there are
probably a very few who at one

32:19.077 --> 32:24.747
point thought enough was enough;
you know, my mother and father

32:24.752 --> 32:27.802
is really a pain,
and therefore I don't want to

32:27.795 --> 32:30.565
do much with them--will break
the contract,

32:30.571 --> 32:31.301
right?

32:31.298 --> 32:34.338
It does happen to some people
in their life.

32:34.338 --> 32:37.238
As a father,
I hope it would never happen,

32:37.240 --> 32:40.140
but unfortunately it
occasionally does.

32:40.140 --> 32:44.660
When people are teenagers,
that's when you're beginning to

32:44.661 --> 32:49.501
think about the natural right of
the family as a contract,

32:49.500 --> 32:53.140
and you're beginning to
enter--or some people begin to

32:53.141 --> 32:57.211
enter--
some kind of a new relationship

32:57.208 --> 33:03.328
in the parents and try to
convert the natural dependence

33:03.325 --> 33:09.105
on parents on a contractual
relationship saying,

33:09.108 --> 33:10.638
"Well how come?

33:10.637 --> 33:15.217
What do you mean I have to be
back home by eleven p.m.?"

33:15.221 --> 33:15.911
Right?

33:15.910 --> 33:17.910
You remember that?

33:17.910 --> 33:20.310
Anybody ever questioned that?

33:20.309 --> 33:20.889
Right?

33:20.890 --> 33:22.780
Tried to negotiate it out.

33:22.778 --> 33:24.888
"Oh not eleven."

33:24.894 --> 33:27.014
You want it to be one a.m.

33:27.009 --> 33:27.659
Right?

33:27.660 --> 33:32.400
"I am already sixteen or
seventeen."

33:32.400 --> 33:34.030
You know?

33:34.029 --> 33:37.309
That's when you are converting
natural right.

33:37.308 --> 33:42.818
Okay, now there is a transition
from state of nature to the

33:42.816 --> 33:45.096
nature of civil society.

33:45.095 --> 33:45.945
Right?

33:45.950 --> 33:54.090
Well there is the transition
from the state of nature to

33:54.088 --> 34:01.348
civil society is necessary--
this is a remarkable change,

34:01.352 --> 34:05.572
right?--
where you substitute justice

34:05.567 --> 34:11.967
for instinct of contact--
with morality which was lacking

34:11.974 --> 34:15.744
previously in the state of
nature.

34:15.739 --> 34:21.169
And in civil society,
you know, we deprive ourselves

34:21.168 --> 34:27.448
from some of the advantages,
what we enjoyed in the state of

34:27.449 --> 34:28.619
nature.

34:28.619 --> 34:31.899
Nevertheless,
this is a great progress,

34:31.896 --> 34:34.136
what has to be taken on.

34:37.460 --> 34:46.690
Well, the second theme is about
the question of diluted justice.

34:46.690 --> 34:51.040
And he said,
you know, the order to admit

34:51.043 --> 34:55.073
justice among us has to be
diluted.

34:55.070 --> 34:59.970
And diluted means,
you know, our individual sense

34:59.974 --> 35:05.394
of justice has to be overruled
by the general will.

35:05.389 --> 35:12.469
And a sovereign needs no
guarantor, and the individuals

35:12.467 --> 35:20.267
will have to be constrained;
otherwise we are in trouble.

35:20.268 --> 35:29.638
And here is the argument why
the individual will have to be

35:29.637 --> 35:31.897
constrained.

35:31.900 --> 35:37.410
Individuals cannot just follow
their self-interests,

35:37.411 --> 35:42.061
because the general will have
to prevail.

35:42.059 --> 35:46.759
The common good has to overrule
the selfish individual

35:46.762 --> 35:52.092
interests--a very different type
of argument from the British

35:52.085 --> 35:53.235
liberals.

35:53.239 --> 35:58.299
Then he argues for popular
sovereignty, and he prefers to

35:58.297 --> 35:59.017
do so.

35:59.018 --> 36:05.118
And this is his single most
important contribution.

36:05.119 --> 36:10.609
This has to be based on a
convention, and a convention has

36:10.606 --> 36:15.126
to be arrived at by the rule of
the majority.

36:15.130 --> 36:21.470
There must be an assembly of
people and--this is also a very

36:21.467 --> 36:26.947
radical, controversial
argument--that they must pool

36:26.945 --> 36:28.875
the resources.

36:28.880 --> 36:34.160
It is almost a Communist idea
of having common property of

36:34.163 --> 36:38.523
major resources--a very
problematic argument.

36:38.518 --> 36:44.028
And he also makes this
interesting claim that in the

36:44.030 --> 36:47.920
state of nature we are not
equal--

36:47.920 --> 36:51.270
that's a very different view
from Hobbes--

36:51.268 --> 36:55.798
but we are being made equal by
convention,

36:55.800 --> 37:00.350
what we do with each other.

37:00.349 --> 37:05.339
And the problem is this is
really--does it lead to

37:05.336 --> 37:07.166
totalitarianism?

37:07.170 --> 37:13.450
He's also advocating for public
possessions as a superior form

37:13.447 --> 37:18.487
of possession--state possession
over resources.

37:18.489 --> 37:22.809
A very problematic
argument--again paves the

37:22.806 --> 37:28.226
foundation towards Marxism and
Communist ideologies.

37:28.230 --> 37:35.220
And well many of the--you know,
all the citations will be on

37:35.222 --> 37:37.002
the internet.

37:37.000 --> 37:41.660
So you can read it much more
carefully than you can do it

37:41.659 --> 37:42.159
now.

37:42.159 --> 37:46.729
Well then we arrive at the idea
of the general will.

37:46.730 --> 37:51.760
Individual--if this is
something, you believe in Adam

37:51.757 --> 37:56.127
Smith or you believe in Locke,
you will be very

37:56.126 --> 38:00.096
disturbed--individuals express
only private interest.

38:00.099 --> 38:03.259
So there must be a public
interest.

38:03.260 --> 38:08.550
And the general will is sort
of--it's unclear where it is

38:08.550 --> 38:13.940
coming from, but it is certainly
coming over and above the

38:13.938 --> 38:15.448
individuals.

38:15.449 --> 38:21.489
And this is the general will,
which is represented in what we

38:21.485 --> 38:23.895
call the commonwealth.

38:23.900 --> 38:28.920
The federal authority,
the federal interest expresses

38:28.923 --> 38:30.763
the general will.

38:30.760 --> 38:33.110
It is not the will of all.

38:33.110 --> 38:37.470
It is the will which serves the
interests of everybody,

38:37.472 --> 38:40.382
rather than the view of
everybody.

38:40.380 --> 38:44.340
Well, as I said,
you know, there is an element

38:44.342 --> 38:45.842
of truth to it.

38:45.840 --> 38:49.690
In discussion sections we can
talk about this.

38:49.690 --> 38:53.910
The class will be divided
whether this is acceptable or

38:53.911 --> 38:54.381
not.

38:54.380 --> 38:59.690
But those of you who believe in
methodological collectivism will

38:59.692 --> 39:04.332
have to take very seriously the
idea of general will.

39:04.329 --> 39:07.699
And now comes the question of
the lawgivers,

39:07.702 --> 39:10.842
and this is a very important
argument.

39:10.840 --> 39:16.160
Well we are only free when we
obey the law.

39:16.157 --> 39:17.167
Right?

39:17.170 --> 39:21.280
That freedom is under
self-imposed law.

39:21.280 --> 39:31.740
Hegel said that freedom is--you
are free when you recognize

39:31.744 --> 39:42.214
necessity, and therefore you
will have to go by the law.

39:42.210 --> 39:46.490
And this will inspire
amour-propre,

39:46.494 --> 39:51.414
the love of the country,
rather than amour de

39:51.405 --> 39:54.745
soi, which is self-love.

39:54.750 --> 40:01.230
He makes this distinction
where--I'm afraid I will have to

40:01.233 --> 40:06.093
come back to this Tuesday;
I will have to leave it

40:06.090 --> 40:10.450
now--the distinction between
amour-propre and amour

40:10.447 --> 40:13.857
de soi is a very important
distinction,

40:13.860 --> 40:17.430
and I'll have to elaborate on
this Tuesday.

40:17.429 --> 40:22.449
So I will come back to
Social Contract,

40:27.019 --> 40:32.999