Description

'Man was born free, and he is everywhere in chains'

These are the famous opening words of a treatise that has not ceased to stir debate since its publication in 1762. Rejecting the view that anyone has a natural right to wield authority over others, Rousseau argues instead for a pact, or 'social contract', that should exist between all the citizens of a state and that should be the source of sovereign power. From this fundamental premise, he goes on to consider issues of liberty and law, freedom and justice, arriving at a view of society that has seemed to some a blueprint for totalitarianism, to others a declaration of democratic principles.

Translated and Introduced by Maurice Cranston

The Social Contract

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Paperback / softback by Jean-Jacques Rousseau , Maurice Cranston

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'Man was born free, and he is everywhere in chains'These are the famous opening words of a treatise that has... Read more

    Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
    Publication Date: 31/07/2003
    ISBN13: 9780140442014, 978-0140442014
    ISBN10: 0140442014

    Number of Pages: 192

    Non Fiction , Politics, Philosophy & Society

    Description

    'Man was born free, and he is everywhere in chains'

    These are the famous opening words of a treatise that has not ceased to stir debate since its publication in 1762. Rejecting the view that anyone has a natural right to wield authority over others, Rousseau argues instead for a pact, or 'social contract', that should exist between all the citizens of a state and that should be the source of sovereign power. From this fundamental premise, he goes on to consider issues of liberty and law, freedom and justice, arriving at a view of society that has seemed to some a blueprint for totalitarianism, to others a declaration of democratic principles.

    Translated and Introduced by Maurice Cranston

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