“Man is born free and everywhere he is in chains”. With this now famous quote Jean-Jacque Rousseau begins his work The Social Contract. The purpose of the Social Contract was to establish how people could enter civil societies without sacrificing their individual freedom. Rousseau imagines a social contract that unites people. To analyze The Social Contract we must examine how Rousseau addresses the four problems of political philosophy: order, freedom, justice, and history. First of all, the problem of order will be addressed. To determine how Rousseau approaches the problem of order one must decide whether the state described by Rousseau is natural or artificial. Rousseau believes that man is born in a state of nature. In this state of nature man enjoys complete freedom. Rousseau defines this freedom as physical freedom, because man has the ability to do what he physically likes and is guided only by his impulses and instincts. By joining a civil society, man acquires the rationality to curb his own actions and preserve himself by escaping the state of nature, in which everything is determined by force. Since Rousseau believes that man is born in a state of nature and subsequently forms a social contract to create a civil society, the society or state created would be artificial. In discussing the problem of order we must also look at the origin of the state. The origin of the state comes from people signing a social contract to form a civil society. Man feels the need to unite in a civil society to preserve himself and his property. As discussed above, in the state of nature man is physically free, but is governed only by his own instincts and impulses. Man only acquires the ability... through paper... the overall and general will reflects the individual will of the citizens of the State. Overall, Rousseau believes that a just state is one in which everyone is equal. The final problem of political philosophy is history. Rousseau believes that the history of a state is progressive and moves in a linear manner. Rousseau believes that a change in government can and should happen. He believes that the general will, or all the people of a state, should meet periodically to evaluate their government. At that point the government will be terminated and the general will will have to decide whether to continue the current government or make changes. Rousseau also believes that no state will last forever, every state will sooner or later deteriorate. This happens when the general will begins to act for the private will of individuals, eventually this can lead to revolution and eventually the state will dissolve.