Description

---

Contains the Social Contract, as well as the first English translation of Rousseau’s early Discourse on the Virtue Most Necessary for a Hero, numerous previously untranslated political fragments, and the first draft of the Social Contract (the so-called Geneva Manuscript). By placing Rousseau’s famous exposition of “political right” and the “general will” in the context of his preparatory drafts, the editors provide significant insight into the formation of one of the most important and influential works in Western political thought.

About the Author

---

Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–78) was a leading Genevan philosopher and political theorist and one of the key figures of the Enlightenment.

Christopher Kelly is a professor of political science at Boston College. He is the author of Rousseau’s Exemplary Life and coeditor of The Collected Writings of Rousseau.