Project Gutenberg 2014-07-19 Public domain in the USA. 9490 Rousseau, Jean-Jacques 1712 1778 Rousseau, J. J. (Jean-Jacques) Rousseau, Jean Jacques Cole, G. D. H. (George Douglas Howard) 1889 1959 Cole, George Douglas Howard The Social Contract & Discourses The Social Contract and Discourses E-text prepared by Marc D'Hooghe (http://www.freeliterature.org) from page images generously made available by the Google Books Library Project (http://books.google.com) "The Social Contract & Discourses" by Jean-Jacques Rousseau is a foundational work of political philosophy written in the late 18th century. The text explores the relationship between individuals and the state, examining how legitimate political authority can be established and justified. Central to Rousseau's argument is the idea of the social contract, which posits that individuals collectively agree to form a society that is governed by the general will aimed at the common good. At the start of the work, Rousseau provocatively states, “Man is born free; and everywhere he is in chains,” indicating his exploration of how social and political structures often oppress human freedom. He questions the legitimacy of authority derived from force and differentiates between natural and societal bonds, suggesting that while the family represents the first natural society, political institutions must be based on mutual consent and conventions. By delving into these themes, Rousseau sets the stage for a deeper inquiry into the nature of freedom, the role of government, and the principles that underpin legitimate social orders. (This is an automatically generated summary.) Reading ease score: 46.6 (College-level). Difficult to read. en Economics Political science -- Early works to 1800 Social contract JC Text Category: Philosophy & Ethics Category: Politics 787168 2025-07-20T09:00:09.011778 text/html 752786 2025-07-20T07:14:26 text/html 519089 2025-07-20T09:00:29.361620 application/epub+zip 529926 2025-07-20T09:00:18.650649 application/epub+zip 366129 2025-07-20T09:00:13.401702 application/epub+zip 820938 2025-07-20T09:00:38.538583 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 794610 2025-07-20T09:00:28.492741 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 599653 2022-09-21T05:38:25.342738 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 742038 2025-07-20T09:00:08.052703 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 709846 2025-07-20T07:14:26 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 18634 2025-07-20T09:00:38.688554 application/rdf+xml 16474 2025-07-20T09:00:17.860678 image/jpeg 3983 2025-07-20T09:00:17.603652 image/jpeg 489804 2025-07-20T09:00:09.074763 application/octet-stream application/zip Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at https://book.klll.cc/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog en.wikipedia fr.wikipedia en.wikipedia