MEAN to inquire if, in the civil order, there can be any sure and legitimate rule of administration, men being taken as they are and laws as they might be. In this inquiry I shall endeavour always to unite what right sanctions with what is prescribed by interest, in order that justice and utility may in no case be divided. I enter upon my task without proving the importance of the subject. I… Read the rest of this passage →

AS long as several men in assembly regard themselves as a single body, they have only a single will which is concerned with their common preservation and general well-being. In this case, all the springs of the State are vigorous and simple and its rules clear and luminous; there are no embroilments or conflicts of interests; the common good is everywhere clearly apparent, and only good sense is… Read the rest of this passage →

Discourse on the Origin and the Foundations of Inequality Among Men, by Jean-Jacques Rousseau : preface2 Discourse on the Origin and the Foundations of Inequality Among Men, by Jean-Jacques Rousseau Notice on the Notes I have added some notes to this work in accordance with my lazy habit of working on this and that. These notes wander sometimes so far from the subject that it is not good to…

The word Economy, or Œconomy, is derived from _οἰκός, a house_, and _νόμος, law_, and meant originally only the wise and legitimate government of the house for the common good of the whole family. The meaning of the term was then extended to the government of that great family, the State. To distinguish these two senses of the word, the latter is called _general_ or _political_ economy, and the… Read the rest of this passage →