From the state of nature to civil society, the problem of freedom in Rousseau

Jean-Jacques Rousseau, while grounding his political and social philosophy on the idea of a contract, resorted to the pre-civil society, that is, the state of nature, in order to comprehend the true nature of man. According to him, in the state of nature, man is free and equal; he is self-sufficient, content with what nature provides, and free from fear and anxiety. People, who are equal by birth, are compassionate and do not struggle with each other thanks to this equality. Rousseau sees man as a naturally good being and defines the pre-contractual state of nature as a period of peace and the most favorable conditions for the existence of the human species, in which the individual does the least harm to others while protecting his own existence. However, it is society itself that transforms man, born free and equal, into a selfish and evil being. In Rousseau's words, "Everything is good when it comes from the hand of God, it is corrupted in the hands of man." Seeing society as a structure created by man, Rousseau argues that tendencies such as greed and selfishness, which Hobbes describes for natural man, characterize civilized man, not man in the state of nature. Having an optimistic view of the state of nature, Rousseau expresses the quest to protect and secure the natural rights of the individual through the social contract in a world where a return to the state of nature is no longer possible. In this context, Rousseau's 'ideal of freedom' envisages the reconstruction of the individual's innate freedom within the framework of a just and common will-based order in society. In this study, it will be discussed how the human being, who cannot return to the state of nature, can be transformed back into a free being in Rousseau's thought.