The Social Contract
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Rated: 3.78 of 5 stars
3.78
· 31 ratings · 192 pages · Published: 1762
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.
In his introduction, Maurice Cranston examines the historical and political ideas that influenced Rousseau and places The Social Contract against a backdrop of Rousseau’s remarkable personality and life.
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