Jean-jacques rousseau quotes

33 Jean-Jacques Rousseau

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Jean-Jacques Rousseau,  1712 – 1778 CE,  was a philosopher of the 18th century who mostly lived and was active in France. His political philosophy influenced western Europe, including aspects of the French Revolution and the development of modern political thought.

Rousseau’s  Discourse on Inequality and The Social Contract are cornerstones in contemporary political thought.

The Social Contract outlines what ought to be in place for a legitimate and publicly supported  political order. It is possibly the most influential work of political philosophy in the West. The treatise begins with the often heard opening lines, “Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains. Those who think themselves the masters of others are indeed greater slaves than they.”

Rousseau followed the work of Hobbes and claimed that the state of nature was a human existence that was without law or morality, which humans needed to leave beh

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Genevan philosopher, writer, and composer (1712–1778)

This article is about the philosopher. For the director, see Jean-Jacques Rousseau (director).

"Rousseau" redirects here. For other uses, see Rousseau (disambiguation).

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Portrait by Maurice Quentin de La Tour, 1753

Born(1712-06-28)28 June 1712

Geneva, Republic of Geneva

Died2 July 1778(1778-07-02) (aged 66)

Ermenonville, Picardy, Kingdom of France

PartnerThérèse Levasseur (1745–1778)
EraAge of Enlightenment
(early modern philosophy)
RegionWestern philosophy
School

Main interests

Political philosophy, music, education, literature

Notable ideas

General will, amour de soi, amour-propre, moral simplicity of humanity, child-centered learning, civil religion, popular sovereignty, positive liberty, public opinion
Writing career
LanguageFrench
Genres
SubjectSocial change
Literary movementSentimentalism
Years activeFrom 1743
Notable worksThe Social Contract
Julie, or the New Heloise

Jean Jacques Rousseau

1. Life

Jean-Jacques Rousseau was born in the independent Calvinist city-state of Geneva in 1712, the son of Isaac Rousseau, a watchmaker, and Suzanne Bernard. Rousseau’s mother died nine days after his birth, so Rousseau was raised and educated by his father until the age of ten. Isaac Rousseau was one of the small minority of Geneva’s residents who enjoyed the rank of citizen of Geneva, and was therefore a member of the city’s nominally sovereign assembly. Jean-Jacques was to inherit this status. According to his own subsequent accounts, the haphazard education that he received from his father included both the inculcation of republican patriotism and the reading of historians of ancient republicanism, such as Plutarch. After his father fled this city to avoid arrest, Jean-Jacques was put in the care of a pastor at nearby Bossey and subsequently apprenticed to an engraver. Rousseau left Geneva at the age of sixteen and came under the influence of a Roman Catholic convert noblewoman, Françoise-Louise de la Tour, Baronne de Warens.

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