Marx Sublates Rousseau's "General Will" Theory And Its Contemporary Significance

"Man is born free,and he is everywhere in chains."Roussea u,Eighteenth-centuryFrench Enlightenment thinkers, is the first ma n expressed concern and reflection ofmodernity crisis unprecedented. At that time facing the corruption of society mora lity ,the state order in chaos, Roussea u tried to realize the greatest happiness of ma nkind ---liberty and equality by his General Will theory.General will is not the sum of all the individ ual will, and that it is only thecoincidental will of the individ ual will and the expression of the real commoninterests. General will is always fair, always for the purpose of public interest, is thecommon will and the highest guida nce of the sovereignty community, on behalf of theCommunity public interest and socia l well-being, is the me asure of all standards. Thepopular sovereignty basing on the genera l will is always right , indivisibility, nontransferable,non-representative and the sanctity of the intrinsic characteristics of such.Therefore, the genera l will theory is the core of Roussea u's politica l philosophy, isthe"soul" and "sophisticated"in the Roussea u's politica l ideology.This thesis consists of four parts to elaborate Marxism criticize and inheritRoussea u's genera l will and its contemporary significa nce.The first part focuses on the genera l will theory of logica l premise ----the socia lcontract. First of all, the socia l contract theory advocated by the Grotius, by Hobbes,Locke creates development, to systems theory as a master of the Roussea u anddevelop it to the extreme , Roussea u proposed a more radica l socia l contracttheory,which was based on criticizing and inheriting predecessors.The second part focuses on the mea ning of Roussea u's genera l will theory and itsfundamenta l purpose - to achieve freedom and equality. Basing on the genera l willRoussea u for the first time for the modern democra tic thought and democra ticmovement provides an important theoretica l foundation --- the sovereignty of thepeople, that popular sovereignty, government is the product of the genera l will of thepeople, So the people have the right to repeal the government that violate their will,deprive their free will. Law is the declaration and records of the genera l will,especia lly, his "Socia l Contract," this book provides a theoretica l program for theeighteenth century bourgeois democra tic revolution in France and the United States.these theories become the most powerful ideologica l weapona for the moderndemocra tic aspirations. America's "Declaration of Independence," the French"Declaration of Human Rights" and the Constitution of the two countries, largely inherited and directly reflects the spirit of Roussea u's genera l will theory and politica lidea ls.The third part discusses the theory of Marxist critiq ue of Roussea u's genera l will,inheritance, and beyond. Marx used the theory of historica l materia lism and classstruggle to criticize and inherit Roussea u's empty and utopia rich "Genera l Will"theory ,the abstract ideas of popular sovereignty. criticized Roussea u to break awayfrom the socio-economic relations and class rela tions to examine the so-called"genera l will",detach sovereignty issues and class issues, do not understa nd thecontent of sovereignty is a class, it is a reflection of the will of the ruling class thatmaster the state power. Marx submit that "the law is the performa nce of the commoninterests of the ruling class of nationa l will", only the domina nt economic orderthrough the nationa l authorities this class will become a nationa l will to safeguard theinterests of the class. The essence of the "Popular sovereignty"is the supreme powerthat belongs to the people,a nd only belong to the people, the people are the fina ldecision makers of the ultimate goal and all the acts.The fourth part focuses on the contemporary significa nce of the genera l will theory.Roussea u's politica l thought did not die with the changes of history, on the contrary,the influence of his origina l research on the equality and popular sovereignty thoughthave been increasing with the development of history. Undoubtedly this has aprofound inspiration for the realization of distributive justice, promote socia l harmony,and transformation of government functions, build ing a service-oriented government.Although academic world in the domestic and foreign on Roussea u's genera lwill,a lways benevolent see benevolence or the wise see wisdom, but Roussea u is great,no doubt his genera l will theory is deep. In the current developing socia listdemocra tic politics with Chinese characteristics and build ing a harmonious society,absorbing and learning from the achievements of politica l civiliza tion of ma nkind toenrich and develop the theoretica l system of socia lism with Chinese characteristics,and gradua lly promoting socia list democracy and the rule of law in the opening upand integration socia l environment. In this crucia l period of historica l development, toresearch Roussea u's politica l philosophy has a specia l significa nce.