Family: The Oldest and Only Natural Form of Government
What is the family? The family is considered by most people to be a network of people connected by blood. It is also an intricate system of government with laws in which each member plays a special role and has to uphold the requirements of that role. Rousseau considers the family to be the oldest and only natural form of government. This analogy regards the family as the foundation of all political associations. By analogy, the ruler is the father and the children are the people. They both follow some of the same basic concepts of life. Certain laws are used to the advantage of the “children” and “people” used in the analogy. Political associations and family have a difference even though one was based on the other. The difference between each party is in their rewards. This difference fails to show its significance in its relation to the natural form of government.
I believe this analogy to be useful and its contentions to be true to a certain extent. The analogy clearly identifies the similarities of political associations and the family. It states that the family has specific laws that it must follow. Self-pr
Certain aspects of the natural form of government do not help us to fully understand the foundation of government. The relevance of the rewards that the father in a family and the government receives is not evident. The father receives the love of his children. The government finds satisfaction in commanding others since there is no relation of love to its people. The analogy states what each party receives for being in charge but it does not explain what this has to do with the formation of government. This information is essential for us to know how different aspects relate to the natural form of government. Sufficient information on the significance of rewards should have been given to make the point clear.
fatherly duties. The bond between them is not fully severed. The bond is no longer imposed by nature but is simply a matter of choice. Moreover, the family is still
Rousseau compares the family to government. He points out that the family is the foundation for government. The father in a family is the ruler in a government and the
its people until a certain age is attained. This allows the people to take c