Let us first look at Jean-Jacques Rousseau's philosophy. Tired of intellectual restrictions of religion and the political constraints of absolutism, Rousseau came up with ideologies to counteract them. According to Jean-Jacques Rousseau, a person or institution has authority if they are able to command others to do things. That authority becomes legitimate only if the person, or institution, possesses the right to command others. To be legitimate, the authority that the state has over the people must come from the people themselves, and not from a single entity such as the king. Power that comes from such sources is usually referred to as naked power. In such a scenario, it is doubtful as to whether the people are obeying the state because they ought to, or because they are afraid of the consequences if they do not. There is also no guarantee that in the absence of the state, the people will still obey it.
             Rousseau has claimed, 'Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains.' What he means by the phrase 'in chains' is actually living in society. To escape living in a society is not what Rousseau wanted people to do. He wanted people to find a way for them to live in the chains of society while at the same time think of themselves as being free. Rousseau then put forth his argument that individuals did not have to choose between freedom and the authority of the state. Instead, if they choose to obey the state, they are actually obeying themselves, and hence at the same time retaining their freedom.
             To prove his argument, Rousseau highlighted three wills of man: the particular will, the will of all, and the general will. Particular will is concerned with our own advantage. The will of all is what you get when you add together the particular will of each person, while general will is concerned with which is the best interest of the group, taken as a whole rather than as a collection of individuals. Rousseau's idea of general wi...