Jean-Jacques Rousseau
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Jean-Jacques Rousseau was a very significant man not only during his time, the time of the Enlightenment, but also in the formation of some of the modern principles and ideals seen today. He led an interesting yet controversial life and had opinions of the same sort. He made important contributions to philosophy, literature, and music with his presenting of his ideas, publishing of books, and composing of music. He is still regarded today as an important intellectual figure.
Rousseau was born June 28th, 1712, in Geneva, Switzerland and died July 2nd, 1778, in Ermenonville, France (
Rousseau published several books that illustrated his philosophical views. Perhaps his most important work was The Social Contract, which was published in 1762 (
on one another and that this, so called, double pressure threatened both mans survival and freedom. He said in this book, “that by joining together through the social contract and abandoning their claims of natural right, individuals can both preserve themselves and remain free and this is because submission to authority of the general will of the people as a whole guarantees individuals against being subordinated to the wills of others and also ensures that they obey themselves because they are the authors of the law.” This book outlined many of Rousseaus theories about politics.
He wrote a different book to outline his views on education and how children should be educated. He wrote Emile, which was also published in 1762 (
Rousseau had very controversial views on religion and his views got him into some trouble. They gave reason to the condemnation of Emile as well as the condemnation of The Social Contract. Rousseau said in this book that he thought that true followers of Jesus would not make for good citizens (
Rousseaus philosophical views boosted him to being seen as an intellectual figurehead. Hi wrote his Discourse on Arts and Sciences and in it, he argued that, “The arts and sciences had not been beneficial to humankind because they were not human needs, but rather a result of pride and vanity” (
His Discourse on the Origin of Inequality was what really put him into peoples minds as an intellectual and someone to listen to (