Author: Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Brand: Penguin

Color: Multicolor

Binding: paperback

Format: roughcut

Number Of Pages: 400

Release Date: 24-12-2012

Part Number: 9780141191751

Details: 'Man was born free, and everywhere he is in chains.'

These are the famous opening words of a treatise that has stirred vigorous debate ever 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.

Translated by Quintin Hoare
With a new introduction by Christopher Bertram

EAN: 9780141191751

Package Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.1 x 1.1 inches

Languages: English, French