Rousseau philosophy on freedom (Essay Sample)

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Rousseau Philosophy on Freedom
Rousseau addressed freedom beyond the confines of political philosophy. He first addressed freedom by the fact that a man is naturally free given the total freedom as he is not repressed by fellow men or nature. In addition, Rousseau also describes the idea of freedom as being psychologically and spiritually free due to the fact that he is not enslaved to any artificial subjects as it is the case in our modern society. Rousseau's philosophy on freedom identify modern man to be enslaved to his own needs and which is responsible for the societal ills experienced across all societies. Exploitation and domination of fellow men comprise one of the Rousseau view on freedom. He believed that one of the government responsibilities is provide freedom to its citizens. He argued that the responsibility of government to provide was a basic responsibility of the government and was not compromised at all. Rousseau idea on freedom stretched far beyond our understanding of freedom as envisioned in political philosophy.
Rousseau acknowledged the fact there we are not entirely free so long as we are under the rules of property and laws. He argued that the property and law exist to replace the real sense of natural freedom as modern society restricts our natural born freedom. He vehemently separates man-made freedom as spelled out by the government and freedom from the perspective of nature which is the truest form of freedom. His school of thought was also supported by Karl Marx and other Communist philosophers and crusaders. He believes that certain principles of government alienate our natural-born state of freedom.
Definition of natural and the state of nature
Rousseau definition of freedom is that due to centuries of our civilization undergoing development, it has imposed ideas and values that infringes on the true nature of man and he illustrates that many ideas we have accepted and taken for granted such as moral inequality, law and property have no basis in nature. He simply connotes the fact the modern society cannot be compared to the unfavourable “state of nature.”Rousseau defines freedom as natural independence given as a consequence of man's nature. His idea of freedom as self-mastery is that man's first law is to attend to his own preservation other than freedom as a social contract. Rousseau explicitly meant the fact that we as individuals giving up their “natural freedom” to governments and other entities through civil association thus “natural freedom” is perceived to be “common freedom” (Darwall, 2008).
As a result of giving up freedom through civil association man has placed upon himself the “chains” that constraints his own freedom. He connotes the fact modern states have rendered their citizenry to surrender their “natural freedom” through abiding to the man-made laws created by social and political institutions in our society. He vehemently rejected the idea that legitimate political a...