num_pages: 356
description: A lively new translation of Rousseau's best-known work accompanied by additional political writings Man is born free and everywhere he is in chains are the famous opening words of Jean-Jacques Rousseau's Social Contract a work of political philosophy that has stirred vigorous debate ever since its publication in 1762. Rejecting the view that anyone has a natural right to sovereignty Rousseau argues instead for a pacta social contractthat should exist among all the citizens of a state and that should be the source of governing power. From this premise he goes on to consider issues of liberty and justice arriving at a view of society that has seemed to some a blueprint for totalitarianism to others a declaration of democratic principles.
language: English
title: Of the Social Contract and Other Political Writings
publisher: Penguin Classics