Synopses & Reviews
A lively new translation of Rousseau's best-known work, accompanied by additional political writings "Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains" are the famous opening words of Jean-Jacques Rousseau's
Social Contract, a work of political philosophy that has stirred vigorous debate ever since its publication in 1762. Rejecting the view that anyone has a natural right to sovereignty, Rousseau argues instead for a pact—a "social contract"—that should exist among all the citizens of a state and that should be the source of governing power. From this premise, he goes on to consider issues of liberty and justice, arriving at a view of society that has seemed to some a blueprint for totalitarianism, to others a declaration of democratic principles.
Synopsis
"Man was born free, and he is everywhere in chains"
These are the famous opening words of a treatise that has not ceased to stir vigorous debate since its first publication in 1762. Rejecting the view that anyone has a natural right to wield authority over others, Rousseau argues instead for a pact, or 'social contract', that should exist between all the citizens of a state and that should be the source of sovereign power. From this fundamental premise, he goes on to consider issues of liberty and law, freedom and justice, arriving at a view of society that has seemed to some a blueprint for totalitarianism, to others a declaration of democratic principles.
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About the Author
Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778) is the author of numerous political and philosophical texts as well as entries on music for Diderot's
Encyclopédie and the novels
La nouvelle Héloïse and
Émile.
Quintin Hoare has translated from Italian, French, German, Russian, and Bosnian and is a winner of the John Florio Prize, the Scott-Moncrieff Prize, and the Schlegel-Tieck Prize.
Christopher Bertram is a professor of social and political philosophy at the University of Bristol in England. He is the author of
Rousseau and the Social Contract and is a past president of the Rousseau Association.
Table of Contents
Translator's acknowledgments
Introduction
Foreword
Book I
Book II
Book III
Book IV