Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Known for

The Social Contract, general will, "Man is born free"

Thought

Rousseau held that humans are naturally free and good in a state of nature, but are corrupted by the inequality and dependence that civil society creates. He argued legitimate government must rest on a "social contract" in which citizens collectively author the laws they live under, expressing a "general will" aimed at the common good rather than narrow self-interest — ideas that helped inspire the French Revolution.

Biography

Genevan-born philosopher and composer whose ideas on political legitimacy and education made him one of the most influential — and controversial — thinkers of the Enlightenment.

Major works

• The Social Contract
• Emile, or On Education