Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Who is Jean-Jacques Rousseau?

Jean-Jacques Rousseau was a Genevan philosopher, writer, and composer, one of the most influential thinkers of the Enlightenment. Born in the Republic of Geneva, he spent much of his life in France and Switzerland. His political treatise 'The Social Contract' (1762), opening with the famous line 'Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains,' argued that legitimate political authority rests on the general will of the people, and it profoundly shaped modern democratic and republican thought, including the French Revolution. In education, his novel 'Emile, or On Education' (1762) reshaped pedagogical theory. His 'Discourse on the Origin of Inequality' (1755) examined how society corrupts natural human goodness. His autobiographical 'Confessions', published posthumously, pioneered modern self-revelatory autobiography. Rousseau also composed music and wrote the opera 'Le Devin du village'. His ideas influenced political philosophy, education, and Romanticism.

Sources: Jean-Jacques Rousseau, 'The Social Contract' (Du contrat social), 1762 · Jean-Jacques Rousseau, 'Emile, or On Education' (Émile, ou De l'éducation), 1762