In his Discourse on Inequality, Rousseau posits that early social cont

Question

New Project RC Butler 2019  -  Practice 2 RC Passages Everyday   
Passage # 448, Date: 12-Nov-2019
 This post is a part of New Project RC Butler 2019 .  Click here for Details

In his  Discourse on Inequality , Rousseau posits that early social contract theories establish unjust social and political arrangements that provide only the appearance of legitimacy and equality.

In Rousseau’s accounting, the beginnings of the social contract lie in the fears of the rich. In a state of nature, one in which there is no government or law to control the interactions of people, the rich would have great difficulty protecting the property that they possess. Thus, the rich turn to the mechanism of the social contract to shore up the holdings Rousseau views as “hoarded.” The concept of a social contract is appealing to the poor, because the poor fear death in a state of lawlessness and thus seek protection. To obtain assent to the contract, the rich focus their rhetoric on a seeming equality of obligation by creating rules that apply equally to all members of society. This system, however, simply systematizes the “theft” the rich had perpetrated on the poor in the pre-law state of nature.

Rousseau then begins to develop his own vision of a social contract, through which he attempts to right these injustices. His first departure from earlier theorists is in the formation of the sovereign. Rather than members of the state surrendering their rights to another person— an irrational course of action tantamount to surrendering oneself into slavery—they surrender their right to all members of the society and thus to no one. Rousseau refers to this sovereign as the “general will” and it has the task of legislating for the new civil society that is created in the contract.

Unlike early social contract theories, Rousseau’s version conceives of property rights that allow for rights of first occupancy to justify claims, rather than rights of the strongest. In this system, property can be taken only if it has not been previously occupied and only to the degree necessary for the  subsistence  of those taking it, measures intended as a check to the hoarding of property by force enshrined in earlier contract theory.    1 
 E 
 1. Which of the following societies would Rousseau be likely to endorse?

(A) A society in which there is no government or law to control how people interact with each other.
(B) A society in which a primary leader is elected through a fair democratic process.
(C) A society in which there is only communal property, rather than private property.
(D) A society in which the social contract has been dismantled and replaced with rights of first occupancy.
(E) A society in which a homeless family could legally move into an empty house they did not purchase.

2 
 B 
 2. It can be inferred from the passage that Rousseau would believe which of the following of a society of men and women living without the primary structures of civilization?

(A) Their wealth would inevitably be equally distributed across the population.
(B) Those with more wealth would be at risk of losing it to those with less.
(C) Property would not be hoarded by those who had the most power.
(D) The social contract would be created in order to protect and support the poor.
(E) Property would only be taken if it had not been previously occupied and was necessary for the subsistence of those taking it.

3 
 A 
 3. In the context in which it appears, “subsistence” ( Highlighted ) most nearly means

(A) survival
(B) enrichment
(C) protection
(D) help
(E) opposition

Hea234ven · Answer

Explanation:
q1-- I got it wrong and chose D. But later I realized that in the first line of the third paragraph it is stated that Rousseau wanted a modified version of social contract rather than totally removing. 
q2--in the second line of the second paragraph the clue is stated--' In a state of nature, one in which there is no government or law to control the interactions of people, the rich  would have great difficulty protecting the property that they possess' .
q3---By reading the last paragraph it can clearly be understood that the 'subsistence' means the size of the property that just meets the necessity.

I request the moderator to include the difficulty level for these questions.

dharam44 · Answer

Moderators,

Please discuss question 1. For me answer is B.

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Official Explanation

1. Which of the following societies would Rousseau be likely to endorse?

Difficulty Level:   750

Explanation

Choice (A)  is wrong because Rousseau did argue for a social contract, meaning there should be some kind of law.

Choice (B)  is wrong because Rousseau did not think members of a state should surrender their rights to a single person.

Choice (C)  is wrong because Rousseau did argue that people could claim property if they needed it, implying the existence of private property in his ideal society.

Choice (D)  is wrong because Rousseau did not want to dismantle the social contract entirely, but to replace it with his own ideal social contract.

Choice (E)  is the answer because Rousseau desired a society where “property can be taken … to the degree necessary for the subsistence of those taking it.”

Answer: E

Mia961 · Answer

But he says also that "in this system, property can be taken only if it has not been previously occupied and only to the degree necessary for the subsistence of those taking it, measures intended as a check to the hoarding of property by force enshrined in earlier contract theory."

An empty house have been however previously occpied!

An empty house have been however previously occpied!

mukherjeeabhish · Answer

for Q2,Why it cannot be option (C) . It looks close to me as well.

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Official Explanation

2. It can be inferred from the passage that Rousseau would believe which of the following of a society of men and women living without the primary structures of civilization?

Difficulty Level:   700

Explanation

Choice (A)  is incorrect because the passage states that  “in a state of nature … the rich would have great difficulty protecting the property that they possess.”  Even if the rich were to lose their property, nothing indicates that this property would end up evenly distributed among everyone.

Choice (B)  is correct because this is precisely what the sentence cited above says.

Choices (C), (D), and  (E)  are wrong because they point to Rousseau’s vision for a perfect society, rather than a pre-law society.

Answer: B

rahulmangal · Answer

This actually makes sense to me too. Anyone, please explain!!!

ashutosh_73 · Answer

How is ''primary structures of civilization'' synonym for ''beginnings of the social contract''? I couldn't find support in the whole passage. Seemed pretty poorly worded!

DmitryFarberMPrep · Answer

ashutosh_73

Those two phrases don't have to mean the same thing. In fact, we don't need to think about the social contract at all to answer this one. The passage says this: "In a state of nature,  one in which there is no government or law to control the interactions of people,  the rich would have great difficulty protecting the property that they possess." If we were in a state of nature, with no government or law, then it's safe to say we wouldn't have "the primary structures of civilization," since there wouldn't be a civilization at all. (That's built into the definition of "civilization," which describes complex/advanced state-based social structure.)

VerbalBot · Answer

Automated notice from GMAT Club VerbalBot: 

A member just gave Kudos to this thread, showing it’s still useful. I’ve bumped it to the top so more people can benefit. Feel free to add your own questions or solutions.

 This post was generated automatically.

In his Discourse on Inequality, Rousseau posits that early social cont

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards

GMAT Reading Comprehension (RC) Questions

In his Discourse on Inequality, Rousseau posits that early social cont

Prep Toolkit

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards