Discourse on Political Economy and The Social Contract (The ^AWorld's Classics)

Jean-Jacques Rousseau; Christopher Betts

ISBN 10: 0192827502 / ISBN 13: 9780192827500

Published by Oxford University Press, 1994

Readable copy. Pages may have considerable notes/highlighting. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less. Seller Inventory # G0192827502I5N00

Synopsis:

This title is among the permanent classics of political theory. Influenced by Montesquieu's "Spirit of Laws" (1748), it argues that the basis of any legitimate society must be the agreement of its members. Censored in its own time for its revolutionary tendencies, and still controversial in many respects, it is a main source of democratic belief. Rousseau is essentially a radical thinker, and in a broad sense a revolutionary. His doctrine states that as humans are born free, their subjection to government must be based on analysis of "the general will", his greatest contribution to political theory, which attempts to show how individuals can be united by self-interest, and so validate the society in which they live and the constraints which it imposes on them. Christopher Betts is the editor of "Rousseau: 'Discourse on Inequality'", and the translator of "Persian Letters" (Montesquieu).

About the Author: Christopher is Senior Lecturer in French Studies at the University of Warwick.

Bibliographic Details

Title: Discourse on Political Economy and The ...
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Publication Date: 1994
Binding: Paperback
Condition: Fair
Dust Jacket Condition: No Jacket