Jean Jacques Rousseau was born in Geneva on June 18, 1712. He was raised by his father and then later by his aunt and uncle. This all happened not long after the death of his mother. Rousseau spent most of his life in France. He was a social and political philosopher that put together enlightenment and romantic themes in his writings. His main focus in many of his writings was the social inequalities within a society. Rousseau was thought of to be a leader of modern socialism and was one of the first modern writers to attack on the foundation of private property. He questioned the theory that the will of the majority is always the right one and he argued that the objective of the government should be to protected freedom, equality, and justice for all within the state, despite of the will of the larger group.
In 1749, he entered in a contest sponsored by the Academy of Dijon.
Graeme Garrard traces the origin of the Counter-En...
The Social Contract
Picture of statueHe submitted his essay on the "Discourse on the Sciences and the Arts." This essay attacked the arts and sciences for corrupting humanity. When one's religious practices are not allowed to be chosen but are as a means of an alternative dictation then the natural faith and capability to think resourcefully of one's beliefs is somehow pushed aside and can get lost or damaged in the result. This then weakens the people, allowing the higher power of government in a non-democratic society to keep a strict hold over its people. This is quite useful for the powers in command as it helps stress the service of the people. The lack of free will makes a population fearful and when establishes to have some freedom actually will be found to surrender it themselves. Rousseau would have been moved to show...