The Social Contract & Discourses
This collection presents Rousseau's foundational political works examining the principles of legitimate government and social obligation. It includes the complete Social Contract defining the general will and popular sovereignty, along with three discourses exploring the origins of inequality and the relationship between cultural progress and morality. These works profoundly shaped modern political philosophy and revolutionary thought.
Divisions
- Introduction0 / 85
G.D.H. Cole's comprehensive introduction contextualizes Rousseau's thought within eighteenth-century philosophy and explains the enduring significance of his political theory.
- The Social Contract0 / 70
Four books establishing principles of political right through concepts of the social compact, general will, sovereignty, and government forms.
- A Discourse on the Arts and Sciences0 / 1
Prize-winning essay arguing that restoration of arts and sciences has corrupted rather than purified human morality.
- A Discourse on the Origin of Inequality0 / 1
Philosophical investigation of natural man versus civil society, exploring how inequality arose from the transition to social existence.
- A Discourse on Political Economy0 / 65
Analysis of government's role in maintaining general will, establishing virtue, and equitably administering public finances and taxation.