Abstrakt
The republican interpretation denies the traditional understanding of Rousseau's involvement in the Polish question based on the thesis of author's late ideological turn. This has been usually illustrated by the argument that the French philosopher was able to withdraw the key principles of his ideal society propagated in The Social Contract and establish the ultraconservative course expressed by the exclamation: "Poles, do consider well if it is wise to change anything in your state!" This paper, on the contrary, aims to prove that Rousseau did not compromise his own principles by the defence of Polish aristocratic and serfdom system since he wanted to create the practical manual for implementation the ahistorical principles of his concept of social contract to the definite time and space. On the basis of this hypothesis it is necessary to consider why the Polish political system was so inspiring for Rousseau that he perceived it as a suitable base for republican society. This submitted study emphasizes in this respect these following principles:
1) The uniqueness of Polish national spirit based on the extraordinary concept of liberty,
2) The sovereignty of legislation over the executive branch, which can be understood as the right mean to achieve general will,
3) The strong position of regions that implies the protest against the modern concept of centralized state in favour of federalism,
4) It is necessary to take into account that the original initiator of Rousseau's involvement in the Polish case count Wiełhorski had been so inspired by the answer of Rousseau that he managed to write his own philosophical proposal concerning Polish constitution. It is obvious that his treatise called O przywróceniu dawnego rządu should be compared with Rousseau's Considerations, because this comparative conclusion enables us to consider whether one can talk about common republican concept of Rousseau and Polish defenders of "Golden Liberties."