卢梭人民主权思想简论

Rousseau's Doctrine of People's Sovereignty

作为人民主权思想的集大成者,卢梭在《社会契约论》中,从公意出发,系统地论述了人民主权的思想。他认为人民主权不可以被转让、不可以被代表、不可以被分割。主权应该并且只能属于人民,同时人民具有革命权。人民主权思想直接推动了法国大革命,促进了美国人民争取民族独立的斗争,也鼓舞了中国的民主主义革命以及无产阶级革命。但它同时也未能超出时代的局限性,具有乌托邦主义色彩,容易走向极端——专制主义。文章通过对人民主权理论的基础——公意的探讨,梳理卢梭人民主权思想的贡献和不足,揭示了卢梭人民主权思想的实质。

As a main philosopher for people＇ s sovereignty, Rousseau explained his idea of people＇s sovereignty systematically in ＂Social Contract Theory＂. He believes that people＇ s sovereignty should not be transferred to others,nor be represented,nor be segmented. Sovereignty should and can only belong to the people. People also have the right of revolu- tion. This idea pushed forward the French Revolution, encouraged American Independence War and China＇ s democratic revolution. However,this idea is limited due to time and it is easy to go the extreme direction--absolutism considering its utopianism character. Based on the discussion on general will, Rousseau＇ s contribution and inadequacy are analyzed to re- veal the nature of Rousseau＇ s idea of people＇ s sovereignty.