I don't think that he was insane. I do think that he failed to oversee the consequenses of his own imaginary constructs, as they lent inspiration to some of the worst forms of tyranny in Europe.Originally Posted by TuffStuff
Rousseau didn't seek to curtail absolute power, merely to change the one who yielded it. The "common will" dictates everything.
To be fair, he did think very lowly of elections and thought that the only true democracy was what we'd call direct democracy. He remarked that the English people were free at the moment of casting their ballot, but reverted back to slavery after the vote was over.
Politicians who use Roussau's philosophy convieniently ingnore the latter and proceed to excercise broad-sweeping power in the name of the common will. Something to keep in mind.
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