The role of public opinion in Rousseau's conception of property

• Autores: E. Putterman
• Localización: History of political thought, ISSN 0143-781X, Vol. 20, Nº 3, 1999, págs. 417-437
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • For many readers, Rousseau's views on property represent the most ambiguous and contradictory aspect of an already undeveloped economic theory. In this paper, I re-examine this popular criticism from the standpoint of the philosopher's well-known critique of public opinion to argue that property is a more consistent and systematically articulated concept in Rousseau's writings than may appear. I argue that opinion, rather than private property, poses the greatest danger to self-made law and that the narrowness and peculiarity of its political threat demonstrates Rousseau's restrictions against private wealth to be less comprehensive than many believe.