GUIDE TO THE PHILOSOPHY 1938 - 1947.pdf - Rare Books at ...

498
POLITICS
point of view, even if nobody happens to express it, and
since, in relation to .every emergency which may occur,
there is always a right course of action, even though there
may be nobody to take it, a General Will always exists
in relation to every issue which presents itself for decision
in a community, even when nobody is actually willing it,
and it is the will to adopt this view and to take this action*
When nobody happens to be thinking or willing disin-
terestedly, Rousseau insists that the General Will is not,
therefore, "exterminated or corrupted ... it is always
constant, unalterable and pure; but it is subordinated to
other wills which encroach upon its sphere".
(3) Although every individual may, as we have seen,
"have a private will contrary to the general will he has
as a citizen", he does, nevertheless, also participate in the
General Will. Even if he does not consciously will in
accordance with the General Will on a particular occasion,
he nevertheless does so potentially.
The General Will, that is to say, the will to take such
action as is beneficial to society as a whole and, therefore,
to himself as a member of society, is, indeed, always present
in him.
(4) Rousseau rather negatives this last suggestion by
laying it down that the General Will only manifests itself
in relation to matters of general import "the general
will", to repeat, "must be general in its object as well as
in its origin" in regard to which it is possible for the
interests of the community to coincide. "What generalizes
the will," Rousseau adds, "13 less the number of votes
than the common interest which unites them." He condudes
that in regard to issues on which the interests of
individuals are opposed, the decision must be declined by
the General Will and taken by the executive. Why, then,
one wonders, should the citizen on these occasions obey
the executive, linee the action of the executive is, at any
rate in relation to these issues, not embodying the General
Will. Rousseau 9
* answer is, because the executive is
appointed by die General Will to determine contentious