Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778) was a Genevan philosopher and writer whose works on education, inequality, and political legitimacy shaped modern political thought.

State of nature: A hypothetical condition of human life before established political society. Rousseau uses this thought experiment to distinguish natural human capacities from social corruption.
Civil religion: A set of civic beliefs intended to support political allegiance and social unity. Rousseau proposes shared civic commitments while rejecting religious authority over the state.
Enlightenment: An eighteenth-century intellectual movement emphasizing reason, criticism, and reform. Rousseau participated in the movement while criticizing its confidence in progress and refinement.
Emile, or On Education: Rousseau’s 1762 work presenting a theory of education through the fictional pupil Émile. It applies his account of human development to the formation of a free person.
Thomas Hobbes: An English philosopher who defended sovereign authority as a remedy for conflict in the state of nature. Rousseau rejects Hobbes’s portrayal of natural humanity as driven by competition and fear.
General will: The collective will directed toward the common good of a political community. It grounds Rousseau’s account of legitimate laws and popular sovereignty.
Legislator (Rousseau): A founding figure who helps a people establish laws suited to its political life. Rousseau assigns the legislator a formative role without granting lasting sovereign power.
Geneva: A Swiss city-state and republic where Rousseau was born in 1712. Geneva’s republican identity informed his reflections on citizenship and political freedom.
Discourse on the Origin and Basis of Inequality Among Men: Rousseau’s 1755 essay tracing social inequality to the development of property and institutions. It develops his account of how social arrangements transform human relations.
John Locke: An English philosopher who grounded political authority in natural rights and government by consent. Rousseau’s account of property and collective sovereignty differs from Locke’s rights-based framework.

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