 Rousseau's idea of the "volonté générale" ("general will") was not original with him but rather belonged to a well-established technical vocabulary of juridical and theological writings in use at the time.The phrase was used by Diderot and also by Montesquieu (and by his teacher, the Oratorian friar Nicolas Malebranche).It served to designate the common interest embodied in legal tradition, as distinct from and transcending people's private and particular interests at any particular time.