General Will Before Rousseau – The Transformation of the Divine into the Civic Paper (Studies in Moral, Political, and Legal Philosophy) - Softcover

Riley, P

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0691022925 ISBN 13: 9780691022925

Publisher: Princeton University Press, 1992

Synopsis

Patrick Riley traces the forgotten roots of Rousseau's concept to seventeenth-century questions about the justice of God. If He wills that all men be saved, does He have a general will that produces universal salvation? And, if He does not, why does He will particularly" that some men be damned? The theological origin of the "general will" was important to Rousseau himself. He uses the language of divinity bequeathed to him by Pascal, Malebranche, Fenelon, and others to dignify, to elevate, and to "save" politics.

Originally published in 1986.

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About this title

From the Back Cover

"This is a remarkable book--a learned, lucid, and original study of the gradual transformation of a concept that derives much of its force from its until now forgotten origins. No one has ever told this story before."--Judith N. Shklar, Harvard University

Edition details

• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Publication date: 1992
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0691022925
• ISBN 13: 9780691022925
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 296