On the Social Contract
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On the Social Contract by Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Man was born free, but everywhere he is in chains. This man believes that he is the master of others, and still he is more of a slave than they are. How did that transformation take place? I don't know. How may the restraints on man become legitimate? I do believe I can answer that question .
Thus begins Rousseau's influential 1762 work, Du Contract Social. Arguing that all government is fundamentally flawed, and that modern society is based on a system that fosters inequality and servitude, Rousseau demands nothing less than a complete revision of the social contract to ensure equality and freedom.
Noting that government derives its authority by the people's willing consent (rather than the authorization of God), Rousseau posits that a good government can justify its need for individual compromises, rewarding its citizens with civil liberty and the proprietorship of all he possesses. The controversial philosopher further suggests that promoting social settings in which people transcend their immediate appetites and desires leads to the development of self-governing, self-disciplined beings.
A milestone of political science, these essays introduced the inflammatory ideas that led to the chaos of the French Revolution, and are considered essential reading for students of history, philosophy, and other social sciences.
Man was born free, but everywhere he is in chains. This man believes that he is the master of others, and still he is more of a slave than they are. How did that transformation take place? I don't know. How may the restraints on man become legitimate? I do believe I can answer that question .
Thus begins Rousseau's influential 1762 work, Du Contract Social. Arguing that all government is fundamentally flawed, and that modern society is based on a system that fosters inequality and servitude, Rousseau demands nothing less than a complete revision of the social contract to ensure equality and freedom.
Noting that government derives its authority by the people's willing consent (rather than the authorization of God), Rousseau posits that a good government can justify its need for individual compromises, rewarding its citizens with civil liberty and the proprietorship of all he possesses. The controversial philosopher further suggests that promoting social settings in which people transcend their immediate appetites and desires leads to the development of self-governing, self-disciplined beings.
A milestone of political science, these essays introduced the inflammatory ideas that led to the chaos of the French Revolution, and are considered essential reading for students of history, philosophy, and other social sciences.
Rousseau's literary career began with his entry in an essay contest in 1749 on the subject of the relationship of science and the arts to morals. His winning essay, Discourses on Sciences and the Arts, soon became the foundation for his later work entitled the Discourse on the Origin of Inequality (1753). With its publication, he became a figure of some controversy in France. Ideological differences between his views and those of his Enlightenment contemporaries soon surfaced, and Rousseau once again found himself alienated from the intellectual establishment. His differences with the philosophes proved to be the impetus for Rousseau's future work on the content of human nature and man's rela-tionship to society and the state. Contrary to the individualism and intel-lectual enlightenment advocated by his contemporaries, Rousseau sought to sublimate individuality in the security of the collective per-sonality known as the general will. This new society would be typified by concern for the community and would be ruled by laws developed through a plan of controlled participation. Rousseau's social theory was developed in his work Julie, ou la Nouvelle Heloise (1761) and in Emile (1762). The institutional structure was constructed in The Social Con-tract (1761). In Emile, Rousseau presents his utopian vision of child-centered education, full of the sentiments of Romanticism, a movement that Rousseau inspired. Rousseau's later years were spent fighting off persecution, both real and imaginary. He died near Paris on July 2, 1778.
SKU | Unavailable |
ISBN 13 | 9780486426921 |
ISBN 10 | 0486426920 |
Title | On the Social Contract |
Author | Jean Jacques Rousseau |
Series | Thrift Editions |
Condition | Unavailable |
Binding type | Paperback |
Publisher | Dover Publications Inc. |
Year published | 2007-12-29 |
Number of pages | 112 |
Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
Note | Unavailable |