Profession De Foi Du Vicaire Savoyard

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

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Résumé

Rousseau was a Swiss philosopher & political theorist who lived much of his life in France. Many describe him as French, but he generally added "Citizen of Geneva" when signing his name. He presented his theory of education in Emile (1762), a novel, the 1st book to link the educational process to a scientific understanding of children. He's thus regarded as the precursor, if not the founder, of child psychology. "The greatest good is not authority, but liberty," he wrote. In The Social Contract (1762) he moved from a study of the individual to an analysis of the relationship of the individual to the state: "The art of politics consists of making each citizen extremely dependent upon the polis in order to free him from dependence upon other citizens." This doctrine of sovereignty, the absolute supremacy of the state over its members, has led many to accuse him of opening the doors to despotism, collectivism & totalitarianism. Others say that this is the opposite of his intent, that the surrender of rights is only apparent, & that in the end individuals retain the rights that they appear to have given up. In effect, these Rousseau supporters say, the social contract is designed to secure or to restore to individuals in the state of civilization the equivalent of the rights they enjoyed in the state of nature. He was a passionate man who lived in passionate times. He still stirs passion in those who write about him today.