{"title":"Jean-Jacques Rousseau","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"the-social-contract-1","title":"The Social Contract","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFirst published in 1762, Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Social Contract\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e opens with one of political philosophy’s most enduring challenges: how can people live under authority while remaining free? Rousseau argues that legitimate political power cannot rest simply on force, inheritance or the will of a ruler, but must arise from an agreement among citizens, whose collective sovereignty finds expression in the general will. In a series of compact, forceful chapters, he examines law, liberty, equality and the conditions under which a political community can claim the allegiance of its members.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eBoth a work of philosophical argument and a radical reconsideration of civic life, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Social Contract\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e became a defining text of the Enlightenment and a major influence on the political imagination of the French Revolution. Rousseau’s vision of popular sovereignty continues to provoke debate over democracy, individual freedom and the obligations people owe to one another. Its famous opening declaration remains a fitting introduction to a book whose questions are as unsettling as they are foundational.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFrom the book\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\"Man is born free; and everywhere he is in chains.\"\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e— Jean-Jacques Rousseau, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Social Contract\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eOn \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Social Contract\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-pm-slice=\"1 1 []\"\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003e“Rousseau’s Social Contract remains, after a quarter of a millennium, one of the most controversial texts in the history of political philosophy.”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e— \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eNotre Dame Philosophical Reviews\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardner's EU","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":64068492493130,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":false}]},{"product_id":"confessions-1","title":"Confessions","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePublished posthumously in 1782 and 1789, Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eConfessions\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e set out to reveal a human life with an unprecedented degree of candour. Beginning with his childhood in Geneva, Rousseau recounts his education, wanderings, friendships, romantic entanglements and turbulent career as a writer, presenting not an exemplary life but a singular individual in all his contradictions. His memories move between tenderness and humiliation, self-justification and searching introspection, making the act of recollection itself part of the book’s drama.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eRousseau’s determination to expose the private self helped establish the modern tradition of autobiography, while his conviction that society shapes—and often corrupts—human nature connects the work to his wider philosophical writings. Intimate, provocative and at times deliberately unsettling, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eConfessions\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e asks what it means to know oneself and whether any account of a life can ever be entirely truthful. Its influence extends far beyond eighteenth-century France, anticipating the psychological depth and self-scrutiny of later autobiographical literature.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFrom the book\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cem\u003e“I am not made like any of those I have seen; I venture to believe that I am not made like any of those who are in existence.”\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e— Jean-Jacques Rousseau, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eConfessions\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eOn \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eConfessions\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-pm-slice=\"1 1 []\"\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003e“His Confessions inaugurated modern autobiography as a literary genre.”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e— \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Cambridge Introduction to French Literature\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, Cambridge University Press\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardner's EU","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":64068501668170,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":false}]},{"product_id":"a-discourse-on-inequality","title":"**A Discourse on Inequality","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFirst published in 1755, Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eA Discourse on Inequality\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e asks how human beings, naturally free and largely independent, came to inhabit societies marked by hierarchy, competition and dependence. Written in response to a question posed by the Academy of Dijon, the work traces an imagined history of humanity from its earliest condition in nature to the emergence of property, law and political authority. Rousseau argues that the development of private property marks a decisive turning point, as social institutions transform differences between individuals into enduring inequalities of wealth and power.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eNeither a conventional history nor a simple call to return to primitive life, the \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eDiscourse\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e is a bold philosophical thought experiment about civilisation and its costs. Its distinction between natural inequality and inequality created by society became central to modern political thought, influencing debates about property, freedom and justice that intensified during the French Revolution and beyond. The work also anticipates Rousseau’s later reflections on political legitimacy, making it essential to understanding his challenge to the assumptions of modern society.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFrom the book\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\"The first man who, having enclosed a piece of ground, bethought himself of saying This is mine, and found people simple enough to believe him, was the real founder of civil society.\"\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e— Jean-Jacques Rousseau, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eA Discourse on Inequality\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eOn \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eA Discourse on Inequality\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e“Rousseau’s account of the origins of inequality remains one of the most radical critiques of modern civilisation.”\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e— \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eJudith \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eShklar, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eMen and Citizens: A Study of Rousseau’s Social Theory\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardner's EU","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":64068521328970,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":false}]}],"url":"https:\/\/thelamppostparis.com\/collections\/jean-jacques-rousseau.oembed","provider":"The Lamp-Post Library \u0026 Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}