The right of property being only a convention of human institution, men may dispose of what they possess as they please: but this is not the case with the essential gifts of nature, such as life and liberty, which every man is permitted to enjoy, and of which it is at least doubtful whether any have a right to divest themselves. By giving up the one, we degrade our being; by giving up the other, we do our best to annul it; and, as no temporal good can indemnify us for the loss of either. (Discourse on the Origin of Inequality, p.41) In other words, freedom and life was the only and the same fundamental values, while the property was separate from human beings. Property was materialization, but not equal to the people themselves. Pure Relationships under natural state was good, but once a plethora of material got involved, the relationship between people would be transformed into the relationship between substances. The emergence of private property had become the start of a man’s depravation. With the development of private ownership, the relationship between human rights tended to become property relationships. On equality issues, Locke believed that men were born equal. However, equality should not be a aim of social system and a higher fundamental value of political system. Because equality was not possible in society; in fact, inequality existed everywhere. But Rousseau believed that equality should be the basic values of society. This equality was not only reflected in the equality of political rights (which fully reflected the people's sovereignty in Rousseau's thoughts), but should also be reflected in the equality of economic rights. On the issue of economic equality, he did not advocate absolute economic equality, and also recognized the inevitability of economic inequality. However, Rousseau's ideal society was to minimize the gap between rich and poor. Because excessive wealth and excessive poverty would both undermine the right of everyone to enjoy of freedom and equality, and undermine the stability of the country. In
contrast with Locke’s idea of unity human rights and private possession of property,
Rousseau emphasized on the opposite side, and built his own theoretical system
concerning property. That is, private ownership of property was external to the
human rights, the private ownership of property was the starting point of unequal
and loss of freedom, and instead of protecting property rights should be
limited. [1] Rousseau, Jean-Jacques, and Donald A. Cress. Discourse on the Origin of Inequality. Hackett Publishing, 1992. [2] Locke, John, and Crawford Brough Macpherson. Second treatise of government. No. 31. Hackett Publishing, 1980. 网站原创范文除特殊说明外一切图文作品权归所有；未经官方授权谢绝任何用途转载或刊发于媒体。， |
