Son of a watchmaker and his mother died soon after his birth
Received a haphazard education from his father which included republican patriotism and the reading of classical authors e.g. Plutarch who dealt with the Roman republic
He was put into the care of a Pastor (his father fled to avoid arrest) and became an engraver's apprentice
He left the city aged 16 and came under the influence of a Roman Catholic convert noblewomen like Francoise-Louise de la Tour
He travelled to Turin and converted to Roman Catholicism in April 1728
Spent brief time training to become a priest
1740 took up position of tutor in Lyon, this brought him into contact with major figures of the French Enlightenment.
1745 met his wfie Therese Levasseur and had 5 children, whom he abandoned
He published four important books: New Heloise (1760) Emile (1762) Social Contract (1762) and Confessions (1781)
They were very popular and made a profound impression on European thinking and the Romantic period
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New Heloise
1760
It is a romantic story told in the form of letters with themes of the beauty of nature and the simple life as opposed to the corrupt and artificial life in the cities.
Rousseau believed humans were born good and were corrupted by bad institutions e.g. governments, schools, armies and cities that caused social inequality, suffering and injustice
His solution to this misery was to change the laws and institutions.
The changes would occur by people returning to nature and the natural state of human goodness, uncorrupted by institutions that supported inequality and oppression.
In this natural state he thought that the few would not oppress the many.
Rousseau's back to nature gospel was "the most powerful regenerative force of the late 18th century" and "turned the thought of Europe into new channels".
There are few men who have influenced the mind of the world as profoundly as he did.
"Politics, education, religion, aesthetics, morals and literature all bear the impress of the ideas he proclaimed."
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Emile & Education
1762
Tremendous impact on modern theories of elementary education.
Rousseau described a new form of education, based on fostering the natural abilities of each child instead of trying to force all children into a single mold.
This radically new method would preserve the child's natural goodness instead of corrupting it.
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Political theory
Social contract he argues that the existence of all states is based on a "social contract" which may be written or simply understood.
In this contract, the members of the state surrender their individual rights to the "general will".
Since the power of the sate comes from the power of the people, each one of those people is ultimately the source of all state power, and therefore free.
According to Ergang, "the Social Contract is one of the most influential political treatises of all time."
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Autobiography
Confessions 1781 (posthumously)
Received much praise for his previous works but had to flee the country or face imprisonment for radical ideas and the outrage many felt towards it.
Before Rousseau, hardly anyone wrote autobiographies as people tended to see themselves as part of a social unit, not as individuals and each person was much like each other.
J.M Cohen says that "By Rousseau's age...men had begun to see themselves not as atoms in a society...but as unique individuals".
Rousseau believed that emotion, which came from nature and sexual love, was the core of his being and the source of his inspiration.
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