Rousseau and the Problem of Human Relations by John M Warner

Rousseau and the Problem of Human Relations by John M Warner

Investigates the psychological foundations of human sociability as they are treated in the work of Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Argues that Rousseau provides a pessimistic, or tragic, teaching concerning the nature and scope of human connectedness.

“John Warner is among the few scholars to have carefully analyzed Rousseau's understanding of human relationships, and in Rousseau and the Problem of Human Relations he has done so with great sensitivity and keen intelligenceWarner reveals with admirable clarity how Rousseau both inspires his readers to long for wholeness in harmonious relationships with others but also intimates the tragic impossibility of ever truly satisfying such longings.”

—Joseph Reisert, Colby College

“This well-written, well-researched book represents an interpretation of Rousseau’s oeuvre from the standpoint of the longing for ‘wholeness,’ or unity, in the asocial human species, rather than primarily freedom, or moral autonomy, for example. . . . The best parts of the book are the author’s engagement with other interpretations of Rousseau, especially the judicious discussion of the problems with the neo-Kantian–Rawlsian school of Rousseau criticism.”

—W. J. Coats Choice

“Warner’s book offers a lucid and intelligent interpretation of Rousseau that understands the challenge of human relations not as a problem to be solved but rather as a fundamental, insoluble condition to be lived with and within. Warner successfully resists the twin poles of the radically individualist and radically collectivist interpretations of Rousseau by emphasizing the dynamic, irreducible tension at the heart of Rousseau’s project. This book makes a significant contribution to our understanding of that tension and its role in Rousseau’s different models of human association.”

—Denise Schaeffer The Review of Politics

John M. Warner is Assistant Professor of Political Science at Kansas State University.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780271071015
ISBN 10	027107101X
Title	Rousseau and the Problem of Human Relations
Author	John M Warner
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Pennsylvania State University Press
Year published	2017-12-15
Number of pages	272
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.