Thinking With Rousseau

Rousseau's relation to the Western intellectual tradition is re-examined through a series of 'conversations' between Rousseau and other 'great thinkers'.

Rousseau's relation to the Western intellectual tradition is re-examined through a series of 'conversations' between Rousseau and other 'great thinkers'

Few would want to dispute that Jean-Jacques Rousseau was one of the most fascinating figures of the Enlightenment; a man whose interests ranged over a variety of subjects, from politics, to education, to music, to botany. He was also one of the most contradictory and controversial thinkers and exciting writers of his time; the writer of the first modern autobiography and author of the best-selling novel of his day. Emile was among his most celebrated works, a book he regarded as his crowning achievement. Its revolutionary ideas have influenced radical thinkers and made him famous with generations of educators right into the twentieth century. Rousseau made other contributions to education, but his more political works on the subject are usually ignored by commentators. There has been no shortage of books about him in recent years, including general introductory ones. But a comprehensive introductory book dealing with all the aspects of his thoughts about education and politics has long been overdue. On Rousseau: An Introduction to his Radical Thinking on Education and Politics fills this void, and should interest educators, educators of educators, philosophy students, and all with a general interest in education and politics and the history of ideas.

In this superb introduction, Nicholas Dent covers the whole of Rousseau's thought. Beginning with a helpful overview of Rousseau's life and works, he introduces and assesses Rousseau's central ideas and arguments. These include the corruption of modern civilization, the state of nature, his famous theories of amour de soi and amour propre, education, and his famous work Emile. He gives particular attention to Rousseau's theories of democracy and freedom found in his most celebrated work, The Social Contract, and explains what Rousseau meant by the 'general will'.

The work of Jean-Jacques Rousseau is presented in two volumes, together forming a comprehensive anthology of Rousseau's political writings in English. This second volume contains the earlier writings such as the First and Second Discourses, the publication of which signalled the power and challenge of Rousseau's thinking. Rousseau's influence was wide reaching and has continued to grow since his death: major landmarks in world history, such as the American and French Revolutions, were profoundly affected by Rousseau's writing, as were cultural and intellectual movements such as Romanticism and Idealism. This volume, like its successor, contains a comprehensive introduction, chronology and guide to further reading and will enable students to obtain a full understanding of the writings of one of the world's greatest thinkers.

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