The Study Of Rousseau’s Equal Political Community

For the study of Rousseau’s political philosophy,"equality" and "community" are very important topics.However,scholars pay little attention to Rousseau’s thought of equal political community in previous studies.This paper combs the formation process of Rousseau’s thought of equality,discusses the connotation of political community,and reveals the significance of equality to political community.Finally,equality is reflected in all aspects of the construction of political community.Firstly,this paper examines the era background and personal experience of Rousseau’s thought of equal political community.Rousseau,as a representative of the bottom living in an unequal society,experienced the cruel exploitation and oppression of the people at the bottom by the rulers at the top,so he had an in-depth thinking on equality and tried to get rid of the slavery of people by the social state.This is also the direct practical reason why Rousseau wants to build this equal political community.Rousseau found the starting point of his equal political community and the whole political philosophy thought-the goodness of man in the natural state.It has laid a foundation for building an equal political community.Secondly,this paper explores the main content of Rousseau’s equality thought and the connotation of political community thought.Equality under the political community is not produced out of thin air.It is not only an imitation of human equality in the natural state,but also a criticism of inequality in the social state.Finally,the equality under the community will be reflected in three aspects: contract,law and property.The core connotation of political community is different from other general communities.It is the persistent pursuit of equality that endows this political community with a living soul.Rousseau’s equal political community is the ultimate solution designed to solve the problem of human inequality.Its characteristics will appear under Rousseau’s extreme blow to human selfishness and individuality.In addition to the extremely "harsh" material requirements,we must also carry out a thorough psychological transformation of the members of the community,so as to seek absolute selflessness as the preparation condition for entering the equal political community.It also requires absolute "strength",replacing the rule of man with the rule of law,and eliminating members’ dependence on man,so as to "force" all people to freedom,so as to obtain absolute equality under the political community.Equal political community is also a moral community.All perfect systems need to be maintained by good people.Even though we can transform citizens through education and regulate citizens through systems,we still need a moral citizen with good nature to accept these transformations and practice equality,and in this process,our desires and needs always remain the same.This is the reason why Rousseau tried hard to prove the goodness of human nature,which is the basis for the possibility of the whole political community.Finally,this paper discusses the construction of Rousseau’s equal political community.The construction of equal political community takes equality as the ultimate goal and freedom as the prerequisite.Its initial formation is reflected in the moment when all community members sign the contract.In order to ensure the construction of this political community,Rousseau limited it from the fundamental purpose and task of social contract,sovereignty in the people,absolute rule of law,government power and other angles,so as to ensure the smooth operation of this community,ensure that equality is not destroyed and freedom can continue.Rousseau’s thought of equal political community undoubtedly has a far-reaching influence.Not only directly affected the French Revolution,but also a large number of great thinkers.They promoted and improved Rousseau’s community thought,which has important guiding significance for the construction of today’s political community.