The Social Contract

Name: The Social Contract
Brand: Naxos
Availability: InStock
Author: Jean-Jacques Rousseau
ISBN: 9781843799030

Author: Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Narrator: Neville Jason

Unabridged: 6 hr 16 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Naxos

Published: 03/30/2015

Categories: Nonfiction, Philosophy

Synopsis

In The Social Contract, Rousseau explores the concept of freedom and the political structures that may enable people to acquire it. He argues that the sovereign power of a state lies not in any one ruler, but in the will of the general population. Rousseau argues that the ideal state would be a direct democracy where executive decision-making is carried out by citizens who meet in assembly, as they would in the ancient city-state of Athens. The thoughts contained in the work were instrumental to the advent of the American Revolution and became sacred to those leading the French Revolution. With traces of Aristotle and echoes of Plato’s Republic, The Social Contract is an exhilarating look at society and the definition of democracy.

About Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712â€“1778) was one of the most influential thinkers during the Enlightenment in eighteenth-century Europe. His works were, and are, widely read, and he has been firmly established as a significant intellectual figure. His works and ideas influenced several noted philosophers and leaders of the French Revolution.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Baba on November 13, 2021

2009 read: “In truth, laws are always useful to those with possessions and harmful to those who have nothing; from which it follows that the social state is advantageous to men only when all possess something and none has too much.” Jean-Jacques Rousseau, The Social Contract. One of those books I chos......more

Goodreads review by Raya راية on March 18, 2017

"لقد وجدت الثورة الفرنسية إنجيلها في كتابات روسو." قرأت في العديد من المقالات والصُحف وكتب المدرسة منذ صغري عن كتاب العقد الاجتماعي كونه أهم الكتب في السياسة وبقي اسم هذا الكاتب راسخاً في ذاكرتي. وفي الجامعة -كوني درست الأدب الفرنسي- تم إفراد مباحث خاصة في عصر التنوير وفلاسفته والثورة الفرنسية، و......more

Goodreads review by Julian on January 02, 2023

I am so pleased I finished this book. Laws are binding only when they are supported by the general will of the people. I found myself understanding most of this book. Particularly accurate are the following: 1) Nothing is more dangerous in public affairs than the influence of private interests. 2) Th......more

Goodreads review by Callum on March 22, 2025

"Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains." One regains freedom by entering the social contract. Sovereignty lies the with people and is inalienable and indivisible. The people come together to support the general will whilst maintaining their individual freedom. The general will transcends......more

Goodreads review by Hussam on July 10, 2018

Great Philosophies Philosophy implies thinking; and thus, indicates a certain type of thought. That is exactly what this book has accomplished — combined three books that summarized a brief view of numerous philosophers’ ways of perceiving the world. Aside from all that, Social Contract theory was t......more