Rousseau

Ultimately the main freedom the Social Contract provides is positive freedom, it is freedom from the baser desires and inclinations inherent in man which allows him to gain moral freedom and to "live the life that the rational person would chose to live". The ultimate aim of freedom is "self mastery" , man will find his true nature and follow what he truly and rationally believes. Therefore freedom is not to be found in the system of government it is within the man himself hence to be free it is not necessary to be able to chose how the country is run. This makes it possible to understand Rousseau's conception of a free state without such a government. However, can this civil freedom really be defined as freedom? It is questionable whether "civil liberty" really brings out something inherent in man or whether as Talmon suggests Rousseau intends to create "a new type of man". This would not be freedom but would be moulding of men into a form which Rousseau feels is best.
             The general will is essential to Rousseau's idea of freedom. In the Social Contract the supreme ruler of the state is the sovereign which is all of the people collectively. The sovereign rules as according to the general will. If this was taken to mean, what most of the people chose then democracy would be indeed necessary however the concept requires what is best for the people as a whole to take place. It could be different from the will of all as a collection of personal preferences if the majority preference was not seen as in the best interests of the state. Rousseau suggests that this would occur if each person did not consider their own personal preference but what would be best for everyone. Condorcet praised this system as he calculated that if each person had a better than even chance of knowing the general will then it would emerge every time. This however is a huge assumption and there is also the question of whether a general will exists at all.