Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Born 28 June 1712 · Died 2 July 1778
Jean-Jacques Rousseau was a major Genevois philosopher, writer, and composer of 18th-century Romanticism. His political philosophy influenced the French Revolution and the development of modern political, sociological and educational thought.
His novel, Emile: or, On Education, which he considered his most important work, is a seminal treatise on the education of the whole person for citizenship. His sentimental novel, Julie, ou la nouvelle Héloïse, was of great importance to the development of pre-Romanticism and romanticism in fiction. Rousseau's autobiographical writings: his Confessions, which initiated the modern autobiography, and his Reveries of a Solitary Walker were among the pre-eminent examples of the late 18th-century movement known as the "Age of Sensibility", featuring an increasing focus on subjectivity and introspection that has characterized the modern age.
Rousseau also made important contributions to music as a theorist. During the period of the French Revolution, Rousseau was the most popular of the philosophers among members of the Jacobin Club. He was interred as a national hero in the Panthéon in Paris, in 1794, 16 years after his death.<sup>1</sup>
Quotes
“I have entered on an enterprise which is without precedent, and will have no imitator. I propose to show my fellows a man as nature made him, and this man shall be myself.”
Confessions of Jean-Jacques Rousseau “I know my heart, and have studied mankind; I am not made like any one I have been acquainted with, perhaps like no one in existence; if not better, I at least claim originality, and whether Nature did wisely in breaking the mould with which she formed me, can only be determined after having read this work.”
Confessions of Jean-Jacques Rousseau “As a general rule—never substitute the symbol for the thing signified, unless it is impossible to show the thing itself; for the child's attention is so taken up with the symbol that he will forget what it signifies.”
Emile, or On Education “I remembered the way out suggested by a great princess when told that the peasants had no bread: "Well, let them eat cake".”
Books II-VI “He thinks like a philosopher, but governs like a king.”
Books VIII-XII
Quotes from Wikiquote (CC BY-SA 4.0), chosen with AI.
Books by Jean-Jacques Rousseau in order
Books by Jean-Jacques Rousseau in the order they were published, from La nouvelle Héloïse (1761) to Rousseau (2018).
- 1La nouvelle Héloïse
La nouvelle Héloïse1761 - 2Émile
Émile1762 - 3The Social Contract
The Social Contract1762 - 4A Complete Dictionary of Music
A Complete Dictionary of Music1767 - 5The Confessions of J. J. Rousseau
The Confessions of J. J. Rousseau1782 - 6The Social Contract, & Discourses
The Social Contract, & Discourses1913 - 7Discours sur l'origine et les fondements de l'inégalité pa
Discours sur l'origine et les fondements de l'inégalité parmi les hommes1922 - 8The First and Second Discourses
The First and Second Discourses1946 - 9The Reveries of the Solitary Walker
The Reveries of the Solitary Walker1964 - 10The Essential Rousseau
The Essential Rousseau1974 - 11Reveries of a Solitary WalkerReveries of a Solitary Walker1983
- 12A Discourse on Inequality
A Discourse on Inequality1984 - 13Basic Political Writings
Basic Political Writings1987 - 14Discourse on the Sciences and Arts (First Discourse) ; and,
Discourse on the Sciences and Arts (First Discourse) ; and, Polemics1992 - 15Discourse on Political Economy
Discourse on Political Economy1994 - 16Julie, or, The New Heloise
Julie, or, The New Heloise1997 - 17The Social Contract and Other Later Political Writings
The Social Contract and Other Later Political Writings1997 - 18Emile, or On Education
Emile, or On Education2007 - 19Discourse on the Origin of Inequality
Discourse on the Origin of Inequality2009 - 20Major Political Writings of Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Major Political Writings of Jean-Jacques Rousseau2014 - 21Ekonomi Politik
Ekonomi Politik2015 - 22Rousseau
Rousseau2018