How far is it correct to say that Rousseau's sovereign Hobbe's Leviathan with its head chopped off.
Ans.
Concepts of Sovereign Authority Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau believed that the state was a born of contract. It was out of this contract that sovereign came into existence and being. Hobbes sovereign was a great Leviathan, who was all supreme and powerful. The subjects were required to obey bis commands, and to completely surrender their everything before their sovereign. On the other hand, Rousseau created a sovereign out of General Will of all the individuals and in a most democratic way. But it has been said that in practice Rousseau's sovereign is Hobbes Leviathan with its head chopped off. It is primarily because General Wilt sovereign of Rousseau is as powerful as leviathan of Hobbes. He preached absolute Government. There is no provision for defiance of commands of sovereign. The verdict of General Will is binding for all practical purpose. There are no limits to the sovereign authority of General Will. Thus, in other words, both Hobbes and Rousseau created absolute sovereigns whose authority could not be defied under any circumstances, only the method of creating this sovereign was different. Whereas Hobbes" method was creation of an absolute sovereign; Rousseau's sovereign appeared to be democratic, though in practice it was no less absolute.
Premises and Conclusions
Again, it has been said that whereas Rousseau's premises are those of Loocke's his conclusions are those of Hobbes. Against way. Hobbes and Locke, Rousseau believed that in the state of nature the people were neither uncivilised, nor nasty nor brutish. In this both Locke and Rousseau have a common premise that in the state of nature the people were sufficiently intelligent and civilised. But Rousseau's conclusions are those of Hobbes. He did not create a limited sovereign like Locke, But like Hobbes, he created an absolute sovereign, at whose command and authority, everybody was required to work. Everybody was required to surrender everything before him. There was no scope for defiance. Locke believed that the community was the creator of law and the people derived authority from it. But in Rousseau, covereign was the creator of all laws and all derived power from him. Hence, it can be said that Rousseau's approach to the problems of society was that of Locke, but while deriving conclusions he went nearer to Hobbes.
