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Mills Vs Rousseau Analysis

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Throughout the past month, we have read and discussed both The Social Contract by Jean-Jaques Rousseau and The Racial Contract by Charles Mills’. As I said before, the two philosophers derive from very opposing backgrounds, their literary works theorize vital agreements between the members of a society that unite them for the overall benefit of its citizens. Each philosopher addresses the elements and ideas, but Charles Mills’ tackles the elephant in the room involving the issue of race. Because of his ability to see the need for this unspoken issue to be incorporated, I believe that Mills' Racial Contract is more persuasive. Both Rousseau's Social Contract and Mills' Racial Contract are inferred agreements that are existent throughout …show more content…

While Rousseau’s contract originated first, it is classified as being prescriptive as well as descriptive. This means his theories in The Social Contract, are how Rousseau believes society should be conducted. Mills’ Racial Contract, on the other hand, is strictly descriptive, meaning he does not believe this is the exact way that societies should be managed. On page two of The Social Contract, Rousseau states, “Even if each man could alienate himself, he could not alienate his children: they are born men and free; their liberty belongs to them, and no one but they have the right to dispose of it” (Rousseau, Pg. 4). The idea that a contract is needed in any society in order to accomplish more and achieve greater individual security for the price of some of their rights and freedoms is prevalent in both Mills’ and Rousseau’s novels. On the contrary, White supremacy is an underlying theme throughout The Social contract, while Mills’ calls out Rousseau for objectifying “peoples of color” by ignoring them from the contract as a whole. Due to this detrimental difference in the two philosophers’ beliefs, I have to side with Charles Mills’ and his racial contract. When it is all said and done, Mills’ appropriately addresses the problem and respectfully finds a solution that is not offensive to certain

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