The Social Contract & Discourses

The Social Contract and Discourses (1762) are two groundbreaking works of political theory and philosophy by Jean-Jacques Rousseau, presented here in one volume.

In The Social Contract, Rousseau breaks down his vision for a just society, one rooted in man’s inherent perfection gleaned from the state of nature. To be truly free, Rousseau argues that people must divulge themselves of their individual notions of natural rights and instead submit to the general will of the people. While this may...