Compromise

Abstract

The chapters in S.C. on law and the legislator are not the only place where Rousseau considers the question how the general will can be specified, though they are the most important. There is also an entirely distinct discussion of the question in S.C. II 3. This chapter is not in Gen, nor is there any trace of its presence in Int; it belongs probably to the final revision, and the language at the beginning of the third paragraph suggests that Rousseau had the periodic assemblies of III I2–IV 3 in mind when writing it. It should not therefore be given much weight when we are working out the interpretation of the main theory of Books I and II. Nevertheless it is of great interest, has wider applications than the periodic assemblies, and does do something to close a gap in the main theory; so it will be appropriate to discuss it at this point.