I hope this conclusion isn’t too obvious.
I was inspired by a few recent episodes of The Path to Liberty and I wanted to distill a short logical argument about State charters (like the Constitution) and their interpretations.
Full write-up here.
In this part, we’re covering Book 3, Chapters 9, 10, and 11.
Full show notes here.
In this part, we’ll be covering Book 3, chapters 7 and 8. Chapter 7 is a fairly short and straightforward set of definitions marred by Rousseau’s trademark vagueness and pseudo-mathematical gibberish. Chapter 8 is, as best I can tell, a monstrous apology for several of the major problems with colonization.
Get full show notes here.
This week we’re covering four chapters in Book 3: Chapters 3 through 6. These chapters contain Rousseau’s definitions and thoughts on the differences inherent in governments vis a vis their relative size compared to the citizenry.
Full show notes here.
This week we’re covering Book 3, Chapter 2 of “The Social Contract,” titled The Constituent Principle in the Various Forms of Government. Rousseau is leading up to his evaluations of democracy, aristocracy, and monarchy, and in order to do this, he needs to throw up even more weird fuzzy math to justify his ideas.
Full show notes here.
Today I’m putting together some thoughts about the failure of limited government, specifically what happens when an ostensibly Lockean, limited government is converted into an unlimited, Rousseauian framework. It can be hard to see exactly when this happens, but I argue that one of the most obvious signs is when various government officials begin to fight over ultimate authority, which in the Rousseauian framework is a fight over being the mouthpiece of the General Will, something that doesn’t exist in a Lockean framework.
Full show notes here.