“To renounce liberty is to renounce being a man.”Jean-Jacques Rousseau · Contractul social · 1762 · Cartea I, capitolul 4
For Rousseau, free will is what defines a human being; surrendering it would mean turning yourself from a subject into an object, from a person into a tool. A contract handing someone to an absolute master is absurd, because a contract presupposes parties who remain human after signing. A slave can be coerced but never legitimately owned, since no one can give up what makes them human.
Why it matters It remains a compass in debates about workers' rights, abusive clauses, or any arrangement demanding total submission.