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

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

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508<br />

POLITICS<br />

on democr<strong>at</strong>ic bodies which, in seeking to concede some<br />

part of wh<strong>at</strong> everybody wants, rarely succeed in carrying<br />

out all of wh<strong>at</strong> anybody wants.<br />

Errors in Rousseau's Theory. Rousseau, however,<br />

reads far more into his doctrine of the General Will than<br />

these r<strong>at</strong>her commonplace truths. First, he infers from the<br />

feet th<strong>at</strong> individual sectional and selfish interests tend to<br />

cancel out, th<strong>at</strong> the process of voting in assembly will<br />

disclose a will which is directed towards the common<br />

good. This, however, is very far from being the case. The<br />

course upon which an assembly decides nuly be a com-<br />

promise which, while it represents nobody's selfish interests,<br />

may yet not be the course best calcul<strong>at</strong>ed to promote the<br />

public interest; or it may express a straightforward decision<br />

by the majority to over-ride the minority. Secondly,<br />

starting from the assumption th<strong>at</strong> on every<br />

issue th<strong>at</strong><br />

presents itself for decision and action there is a right<br />

course, in the sense of the word, "right" defined above, 1<br />

Rousseau infers th<strong>at</strong> somebody or something actually<br />

wills this course. But the assumption does not justify the<br />

inference. To put the point in a different way, it may be<br />

admitted th<strong>at</strong>, if I will the common good, my will will<br />

be identical with th<strong>at</strong> of my neighbour who is also willing<br />

the common good ; the fact th<strong>at</strong> it will be identical is, indeed,<br />

obvious. But it does not follow th<strong>at</strong> my will and my neighbour's<br />

will for the common good somehow exist. Yet this<br />

is precisely wh<strong>at</strong> Rousseau proceeds to maintain. It is,<br />

however, nonsense to say th<strong>at</strong> a will exists, if nobody is<br />

willing it; it is also nonsense to say th<strong>at</strong> in some sense my<br />

neighbour and I both regularly will the common good,<br />

even when we are not conscious of doing so, or even when<br />

we are actually conscious of doing the opposite. It is quite<br />

conceivable th<strong>at</strong> we may never consciously will the common<br />

good <strong>at</strong> all.<br />

In wh<strong>at</strong> Sense, if Any, has the Community a Personality<br />

and a Will? The point is important because<br />

See pp. 49749*.

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