Description
Book SynopsisPatrick Riley traces the forgotten roots of Rousseau's concept to seventeenth-century questions about the justice of God. If He wills that all men be saved, does He have a general will that produces universal salvation? And, if He does not, why does He will particularly" that some men be damned? The theological origin of the "general will" was impo
Trade Review"A most important contribution to the study of Enlightenment political and social ideas, accessible to public library patrons as well as academic readers. The author presents a very convincing claim that the doctrine of the general will emerged as a theological idea, predating by over a century Rousseau's famous political application in the Social Contract. There is a very impressive marshaling of literary evidence, moderated by a clear facility with the argumentative and writing styles of the major participants."--Choice
Table of Contents*FrontMatter, pg. i*Contents, pg. vii*Preface, pg. ix*Acknowledgments, pg. xiv*One. The General Will Established: From Paul and Augustine to Pascal and Malebranche, pg. 1*Two. The General Will under Attack: The Criticisms of Bossuet, Fenelon, and Bayle, pg. 64*Three. The Departure from General Will: Malebranche on Moral Relations, Order, and Occasionalism, pg. 99*Four. The General Will Socialized: The Contribution of Montesquieu, pg. 138*Five. The General Will Completed: Rousseau and the Volonte Generale of the Citizen, pg. 181*Six. A Brief Conclusion, pg. 251*Index, pg. 261
