Скачать или смотреть Rousseau's Social Contract: Reimagining People's Sovereignty in the Modern Democracy (Full Analysis)

From natural freedom to political obligation, from individual will to the sovereignty of the people. In this full episode of Timeless Thinkers, we explore Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s The Social Contract (1762), the book that redefined political legitimacy and inspired both democratic revolutions and authoritarian regimes.

Where earlier philosophers grounded authority in power, tradition, or natural hierarchy, Rousseau rooted it in the collective sovereignty of the people. He envisioned a political community bound not by force, but by a shared general will—a radical idea that reshaped the meaning of citizenship, freedom, and the state itself.

Rousseau’s vision became the philosophical engine of modern democracy.
It also became the ideological fuel for some of history’s most dangerous regimes. His ideas continue to shape today’s global debates on popular sovereignty, legitimacy, civic identity, and the fine line between collective freedom and political coercion.

🎧 Chapters / Sections

0:00 Introduction
1:25 Rousseau’s Life, Exile & Revolutionary Mind
5:01 Rousseau's State of Nature
7:55 The Catastrophe Of Property and Inequality
10:40 The Fundamental Problems
13:42 Rousseau's General Will (Freedom Through Collective Self-Rule)
17:26 Inalienable and Indivisible Sovereignty
25:48 Civic Religion and Civic Unity (Civil Religion and the Moral Foundation of the State)
30:22 The Size Problem and the Legislator
35:30 Rousseau’s Unresolved Paradoxes
40:12 Rousseau’s Revolutionary Legacy
53:24 Conclusion

Produced by: Timeless Thinkers Official

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🎓 About This Episode

Rousseau transformed political thought by teaching that legitimate authority arises not from rulers, kings, or elites—but from the people themselves. He gave modern democracy its core principles: popular sovereignty, civic equality, and the moral legitimacy of collective decision-making. But Rousseau also exposed a dark paradox: the same idea that empowers citizens can, when misused, justify coercion, exclusion, and even tyranny.

His legacy lives in every debate about democracy, nationalism, social justice, state power, and the meaning of the common good.

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🎥 Previous Episodes

Ep. 1 – The Prince: How Machiavelli Redefined Power
Ep. 2 – Thomas Hobbes' Leviathan: From State of Nature to Social Contract
Ep. 3 – John Locke's Second Treatise: Reversing Hobbes' Absolute Power into Limited Government

Rousseau gave us the philosophical blueprint for democratic freedom.
He also gave history one of its most dangerous political weapons.Today, every debate on democracy, tyranny, rights, equality, and legitimacy echoes Rousseau’s vision—and his warning.

🎙️ Produced by Timeless Thinkers

📺 Watch the full Rousseau Series playlist → (   • The Social Contract: How Rousseau Reimagin...  )
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