One of Rousseau’s later and most puzzling works and never before available in English, this neglected autobiographical piece was the product of the philosopher’s old age and sense of persecution. Long viewed simply as evidence of his growing paranoia, it consists of three dialogues between a character named “Rousseau” and one identified only as “Frenchman” who discuss the bad reputation and works of an author named “Jean-Jacques.” Dialogues offers a fascinating retrospective of his literary career.

This classroom edition includes On the Social Contract, the Discourse on the Sciences and the Arts, the Discourse on the Origins of Inequality, and the Preface to Narcissus. Each text has been newly translated and includes a full complement of explanatory notes. The editors’ introduction offers students diverse points of entry into some of the distinctive possibilities and challenges of each of these fundamental texts, as well as an introduction to Rousseau’s life and historical situation. The volume also includes annotated (...) appendices that help students to explore the origins and influences of Rousseau’s work, including excerpts from Hobbes, Pascal, Descartes, Mandeville, Diderot, Voltaire, Madame de Staël, Benjamin Constant, Joseph de Maistre, Kant, Hegel, and Engels. (shrink)

Ecrits entre 1772 et 1776, les trois dialogues de Rousseau juge de Jean-Jacques apparaissent à première lecture comme une extension délirante des derniers livres des Confessions. Cette écriture du cauchemar repose en réalité sur une structure idéologique d'une extrême rigueur et révèle une logique fantasmatique d'une effrayante complexité, que l'on pourra comparer avec cet autre texte au sujet " abominable " qu'est Le Lévite d'Ephraïm, poème en prose composé par Rousseau sur la route de l'exil en juin 1762.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s ideas about society, culture, and government are pivotal in the history of political thought. His works are as controversial as they are relevant today. This volume brings together three of Rousseau’s most important political writings—_The Social Contract and The First Discourse _and_ The Second Discourse _—and_ _presents essays by major scholars that shed light on the dimensions and implications of these texts. Susan Dunn’s introductory essay underlines the unity of Rousseau’s political thought and explains why his (...) ideas influenced Jacobin revolutionaries in France but repelled American revolutionaries across the ocean. Gita May’s essay discusses Rousseau as cultural critic. Robert N. Bellah explores Rousseau’s attempt to resolve the tension between the individual’s desire for freedom and the obligations that society imposes. David Bromwich analyzes Rousseau as a psychologist of the human self. And Conor Cruise O’Brien takes on the “noxious,” “deranged” Rousseau, excoriated by Edmund Burke but admired by Robespierre and Thomas Jefferson. Written from different, even opposing perspectives, these lucid essays convey a sense of the vital and contentious debate surrounding Rousseau and his legacy. For this edition Susan Dunn has provided a new translation of the _Discourse on the Sciences and Arts _and_ _has revised a previously published translation of _The Social Contract._. (shrink)

The dawn of music semiology showcases the work of ten leading musicologists inspired by the work of Jean-Jacques Nattiez. Reflecting the energy and diversity of the young field of music semiology, chapters in this volume discuss music and gesture, the psychology of music, and the role of ethnotheory, and offer new research on topics as diverse as modeling folk polyphony, spatialization in the Darmstadt repertoire, Schenker's theory of musical content, and modernism from Wagner to Boulez.

The work of Jean-Jacques Rousseau is presented in two volumes, together forming the most comprehensive anthology of Rousseau's political writings in English. Volume II contains the later writings such as The Social Contract and a selection of Rousseau's letters on important aspects of his thought. The Social Contract has become Rousseau's most famous single work, but on publication was condemned by both the civil and the ecclesiastical authorities in France and Geneva. Rousseau fled and it is during this (...) period that he wrote some of his autobiographical works as well as political essays such as On the Government of Poland. This volume, like its predecessor, contains a comprehensive introduction, chronology and guide to further reading, and will enable students to obtain a full understanding of the writings of one of the world's greatest thinkers. (shrink)

The work of Jean-Jacques Rousseau is presented in two volumes, together forming the most comprehensive anthology of Rousseau's political writings in English. This second volume contains the earlier writings such as the First and Second Discourses, the publication of which signalled the power and challenge of Rousseau's thinking. Rousseau's influence was wide reaching and has continued to grow since his death: major landmarks in world history, such as the American and French Revolutions, were profoundly affected by Rousseau's writing, (...) as were cultural and intellectual movements such as Romanticism and Idealism. This volume, like its successor, contains a comprehensive introduction, chronology and guide to further reading and will enable students to obtain a full understanding of the writings of one of the world's greatest thinkers. (shrink)

Frederick Watkins’ 1953 edition of Rousseau’s _Political Writings_ has long been noted for being fully accurate while representing much of Rousseau’s eloquence and elegance. It contains what is widely regarded as the finest English translation of _The Social Contract_, Rousseau’s greatest political treatise. In addition, this edition offers the best available translation of the late and important _Government of Poland_ and the only published English translation of the fragment _Constitutional Project for Corsica_, which, says Watkins, provides the clearest possible demonstration (...) of the practical implications of Rousseau’s political thought. (shrink)

THE first and most important deduction from the principles we have so far laid down is that the general will alone can direct the State according to the object ...

A discourse on the arts and sciences -- A discourse on the origin of inequality -- A discourse on political economy -- The general society of the human race -- The social contract.

Contents include a note on the translation, introduction by Peter Gay, and a bibliography.

In his Confessions Jean-Jacques Rousseau tells the story of his life, from the formative experience of his humble childhood in Geneva, through the achievement of international fame as novelist and philosopher in Paris, to his wanderings as an exile, persecuted by governments and alienated from the world of modern civilization. In trying to explain who he was and how he came to be the object of others' admiration and abuse, Rousseau analyses with unique insight the relationship between an (...) elusive but essential inner self and the variety of social identities he was led to adopt. The book vividly illustrates the mixture of moods and motives that underlie the writing of autobiography: defiance and vulnerability, self-exploration and denial, passion, puzzlement, and detachment. Above all, Confessions is Rousseau's search, through every resource of language, to convey what he despairs of putting into words: the personal quality of one's own existence. (shrink)

With splendid new translations, these four major works offer a superlative introduction to a great social philosopher whose ideas helped spark a revolution that has still not ended. Can individual freedom and social stability be reconciled? What is the function of government? What are the benefits and liabilities of civilization? What is the original nature of man, and how can he most fully realize his potential? These were the questions that Jean-Jacques Rousseau investigated in works that helped set (...) the stage for the French Revolution and have since stood as eloquent expressions of revolutionary views, not only in politics but also in such areas as personal lifestyles and educational practices. Rousseau’s concepts of the natural goodness of man, the corrupting influence of social institutions, and the right and the power of the people to overthrow their oppressors and create new and more responsive forms of government and society are as richly relevant today as they were in eighteenth-century France. Includes: The Social Contract Discourse on Inequality Discourse on the Arts and Sciences “The Creed of a Savoyard Priest”. (shrink)

Discourse on the sciences and the arts -- Discourse on inequality -- On the social contract.

Discourse on the sciences and the arts -- Discourse on the origin and foundations of inequality among men -- Discourse on political economy -- On the social contract -- The state of war.

Dans l'"Avis des éditeurs", on explique en quoi consiste l'intérêt particulier de ce recueil de lettres privées, non destinées à la publication. En plus, on apprend les circonstances grâce auxquelles une partie importante des papiers de Rousseau est entrée à la Bibliothèque de la ville (actuelle Bibliothèque publique et universitaire) de Neuchâtel: "J'entends que tous les papiers manuscrits de Jean-Jacques Rousseau [...] soient recueillis et rassemblées en paquets étiquetés et cachetés, pour être déposés dans une bibliothèque publique bien (...) assurée. Les lettres adressées à moi seront également déposées [...]" (extrait du testament de Pierre-Alexandre Du Peyrou du 22 juillet 1791. "Avis..." p. 16 s.). (shrink)

It Is Of Man That I Have To Speak; And The Question I Am Investigating Shows Me That It Is To Men That I Must Address Myself: For Questions Of This Sort Are Not ...

Revolutionary in its own time and controversial to this day, this work is a permanent classic of political theory and a key source of democratic belief. Rousseau's concepts of "the general will" as a mode of self-interest uniting for a common good, and the submission of the individual to government by contract inform the heart of democracy, and stand as its most contentious components today. Also included in this edition is Rousseau's Discourse on Political Economy", a key transitional work between (...) his Discourse on Inequality and The Social Contract. This new translation offers fresh insight into a cornerstone of political thought, which is further illuminated by a comprehensive introduction and notes. (shrink)

L'Essai sur l'origine des langues (dont le titre complet est Essai sur l'origine des langues où il est parlé de la mélodie et de l'imitation musicale) est une œuvre posthume de Jean-Jacques Rousseau dans laquelle il réfléchit sur les langues et la musique, mais aussi complète le Discours sur l'origine et les fondements de l'inégalité parmi les hommes. Il fut commencé vers 1755 mais resta inachevé et fut publié par Pierre-Alexandre Du Peyrou, exécuteur testamentaire de Rousseau, en 1781.

Ces Entretiens sont à la fois l'autobiographie intellectuelle d'un des philosophes les plus au fait de quelques-uns des grands débats contemporains et un plaidoyer pour un style de pensée modeste, rigoureux et ironique. Jacques Bouveresse appartient à cette génération des jeunes assistants qui, dans les années 1960 montèrent à l'assaut d'une Sorbonne un peu poussiéreuse et à dominante spiritualiste. La véritable nouveauté pour lui ne fut cependant ni la linguistique, ni le marxisme, ni la psychanalyse, mais la logique " (...) moderne " qu'on tenait alors pour exotique et marginale. Adversaire-né de tous les conformismes, introducteur en France des philosophes logiciens Frege, Russell, Carnap contenté de plaider pour la philosophie analytique ; il a tracé d'emblée la voie d'une certaine résistance intellectuelle, qui s'alimente autant à l'ironie viennoise d'un Kraus ou d'un Musil, qu'à une relecture très personnelle de Nietzsche. (shrink)