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1-Page Summary of The Social Contract

Overall Summary

Foreword

The title page to The Social Contract, or Principles of Political Right is signed by Rousseau. It also includes an epigraph from the Aeneid that says “Let us set equal terms for the truce” and a brief foreword in which he explains that this was one part of a larger project but it has since been abandoned. He also states that this text is most considerable and least unworthy of being offered to the public.

Book 1, Introduction

Rousseau begins the book by explaining that he’s not a prince or politician, but rather just an ordinary citizen who wants to understand his country and make informed decisions. He says that this is why he wrote the book—to determine if there can be any legitimate and sure principle of governance under which men are governed, considering their nature as it really is and laws as they might be.

Book 1, Chapter 1

Jean-Jacques Rousseau begins by stating that man is born free, but he’s not in chains anywhere. He thinks that the powerful are slaves too because they have to follow society’s rules and laws. Society needs a government, but people need freedom as well. The author will try to figure out what we should agree on so everyone can be happy with their lives.

Book 1, Chapter 2

Rousseau says that the family is the oldest society, but once children grow up they become independent of their parents. If they choose to stay with their parents, it’s only by agreement and not because it’s natural. This is because people are self-preserving and know what’s best for themselves when they reach a certain age. In society, people can give up some freedoms if it ultimately benefits them.

Some people think that powerful rulers rule for their own benefit, and they treat the rest of society like animals. Indeed, other thinkers even argue that those in power are inherently superior to everyone else. However, Rousseau thinks slavery is unnatural, and people only accept it because they’re forced into it; therefore, he jokes that if rulers really deserved their power by nature he might be “the legitimate king of the human race” since his ancestors were Adam and Noah. Rather than being a divine right to rule over others as some claim, Adam was simply the first ruler because no one else existed at the time; thus there was no-one who could challenge him for leadership.

Book 1, Chapter 3

According to Jean-Jacques Rousseau, might does not make right. If it did, then the strong would have some sort of moral claim on the weak. However, what if someone were stronger than you? They could take your money or whatever else they wanted from you simply because they had more power and resources than you. In other words, a gun can force obedience through fear but cannot possibly produce morality. Therefore, people should only obey legitimate powers (i.e., governments).

Book 1, Chapter 4

Rousseau says that might does not make right. Therefore, all legitimate authority must be based on a covenant between the people and their government. A contract can only work if it is reciprocal; therefore, any contract in which one party has absolute dominion over another would not be legitimate because it is not reciprocal.

Grotius also believes that slavery is justified because the winner of a war has the right to kill the vanquished, but Rousseau disagrees. War is about conflicts over things, not personal relations. However, there can be no property in the state of nature before societies exist; therefore there cannot be war either. In fact, war ultimately isn’t between people at all—it’s between states.