General will

volonté générale

Worked through in 6 videos · 8 passages.

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Summary

Dominique Pagani links the general will to Rousseau, whom he places on a third level, dismissing both the supporters of the Ancien Régime and the liberals of the Enlightenment1. He distinguishes it from the will of a few, of a minority or of a class, as well as from the mere sum of particular wills: it is a whole that is more than the sum of its parts2 3. He identifies it with the State insofar as it includes us all, unlike a government placed above us that does without us4. This bond between citizens is based neither on colour nor on biology5. For him, this State extends individual freedom, which has hardly any limit other than the general will, whose power grows with technical progress6. He gives the example of the will expressed in 2005 and then annulled7. Finally, he holds that what used to be called the left must find common ground again around this notion8.

Summary produced automatically from 9 of the passages below, to be reviewed; the numbers link to the moment in the session.

Cycle 13 · 29 Aug 2025State and state apparatus: the conflict between public and private

12:53In Rousseau, it is neither the will of a few nor the sum of everyone's wills, but a whole that is more than the sum of its parts.
27:40What used to be called the left must recover common ground with the notion of the general will.

Series · 30 Apr 2021My eco-cabin in the ZAD: autonomy or alienation?

14:11The will of all and of each, not of a minority or a class; here the whole is more than the sum of the parts.
15:51A freedom whose only real limit is the general will, whose power grows with technical progress.

Cycle 8 · 23 Jul 2020#15 Return to the logics of the subject

1:08:43What Rousseau calls general will is the State that extends my freedom, expressed in 2005 then annulled.

Series · 30 Dec 2014P for People

7:08The bond between citizens is that of the general will, which is neither one of color nor one of biology.

Series · 19 Dec 2014E for Enfance (Childhood)

5:18A third plane on which Rousseau places himself by setting back to back the partisans of the Ancien Régime and the liberals of the Enlightenment.

Series · 29 Jan 2012Everything is allowed but nothing is possible: Michel Clouscard (2)

24:11The state defined as general will includes all of us, unlike a government above us that does without us.