Social Contract

Rousseau, Jean-Jacques; Cranston, Maurice (TRN)

ISBN 10: 0140442014 / ISBN 13: 9780140442014

Published by Penguin Classics, 1968

About this Item

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Bibliographic Details

• Title: Social Contract
• Publisher: Penguin Classics
• Publication Date: 1968
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0140442014
• ISBN 13: 9780140442014
• Binding: Soft cover
• Condition: good

About this title

Synopsis

"Man was born free, and he is everywhere in chains"

These are the famous opening words of a treatise that has not ceased to stir vigorous debate since its first publication in 1762. Rejecting the view that anyone has a natural right to wield authority over others, Rousseau argues instead for a pact, or 'social contract', that should exist between all the citizens of a state and that should be the source of sovereign power. From this fundamental premise, he goes on to consider issues of liberty and law, freedom and justice, arriving at a view of society that has seemed to some a blueprint for totalitarianism, to others a declaration of democratic principles.

For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

About the Author

Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778) is the author of numerous political and philosophical texts as well as entries on music for Diderot's Encyclopédie and the novels La nouvelle Héloïse and Émile.