Topic > Impact of Rousseau and Smith on the Declaration of...

The philosophy of Rousseau and Smith greatly influenced the French document The Declaration of the Rights of Man. Rousseau's theory of the natural rights of man – freedom and equality – forms the basis of the document. Its concepts of the general will to decide the law and the inherent sovereignty of the people, as well as Smith's emphasis that government need not play an important role for the nation to prosper, also lie at the essence of the Declaration. Smith's The Wealth of Nations' emphasis on progress and productivity also played an important role in the document's formulation. Although Rousseau appears to advocate freedom and equality at the community level, while the Declaration focuses narrowly on individual rights, the concept of individual rights is still the basis of Rousseau's philosophy, and although Rousseau encourages forms of government contrary to the democratic spirit of village. document, the authority behind these governments remains faithful to the articles of the declaration. As Smith writes about economic progress and the paper about politics, economic and political progress blend together in the era's fervor for national progress. Although Rousseau's and Smith's concepts of the general are opposite, both remain a vital influence on that advocated in the Declaration. Jean-Jacques Rousseau's philosophy on the general will and natural rights of man and Adam Smith's struggle for progress and anti-elitism strongly influenced the Declaration of Human Rights. The essence of the Declaration of Human Rights holds that humans possess the natural rights of freedom and equality and that the government's duty is to protect these rights. Adam Smith championed this idea of ​​the nature of man... in the middle of the paper... of the Declaration, his concept of the sovereignty of the general will still underlies the document. Although The Wealth of Nations focuses on an economic agenda, it continues to have a major influence on the Declaration in its advocacy of progress, a social position based on talent, and government based on the general will, without the rule of elites. Even though Smith and Rousseau's crucial concepts on the general differ, both still influenced the one mentioned in the statement, due to its ambiguous nature and the way the writers took from each philosopher the concepts they wanted. Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Adam Smith both influenced the crucial document of the French Revolution, the Declaration of the Rights of Man; Rousseau primarily with his ideas on the natural rights of man and the authority of government and Smith with his emphasis on progress.