Jean-Jacques Rousseau

's thought is at the root of fascist ideology in that his notion of the 'general will' has provided justification of fascist violence as a means to force people to be free.

[F]ascism owed something to the Enlightenment idea that society need not be determined by tradition, but could be organized according to a blueprint derived from universal principles. The Enlightenment thinker Jean-Jacques Rousseau's notion that society should be governed by one such universal ideal, the 'general will', is especially relevant, since it was taken up by the most revolutionary of the French Revolutionaries, the Jacobins. The Jacobins justified violence as a means to construct a new order and weed out those who opposed the general will (or the nation). They were ready to force people to be free.

Kevin PassamoreThinkers

Kevin Passamore