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The Social Contract

Political Philosophy and Theoretical Works

The Social Contract is Jean-Jacques Rousseau's 1762 work of political philosophy, opening with the line "Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains," and arguing that legitimate political authority arises only from a social contract agreed to by the people as a collective body, expressing what Rousseau called the general will, rather than being imposed by a ruler from above.

Facts
Year
1762 1
Key Provision
Argues that legitimate political authority rests on a social contract in which individuals submit to the collectively expressed general will rather than to any private interest, opening with the declaration that man is born free and is everywhere in chains, and holding that laws are legitimate only when citizens themselves are, directly, their author. 1
Classification
Document Type
Political Philosophy or Theoretical Work 1
Original Language
French 2
Connections

Drafted By

Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Political Figures

Rousseau published The Social Contract in 1762, the same year as Emile; both were banned and burned in Geneva and Paris shortly after publication.

Source Jean-Jacques Rousseau (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)

Influenced

Popular Sovereignty, Political Concepts
Source Jean-Jacques Rousseau (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
Sources
1. Jean-Jacques Rousseau (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
  • Document type, description
    The Social Contract is Jean-Jacques Rousseau's 1762 work of political philosophy, opening with the line "Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains," and arguing that legitimate political authority arises only from a social contract agreed to by the people as a collective body, expressing what Rousseau called the general will, rather than being imposed by a ruler from above.
  • Section discussing The Social Contract and the general will
    Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains
  • Influenced: Popular Sovereignty
  • Drafted By: Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Page text
    The work is cast in epistolary form, and is an important supplementary source for the interpretation of Rousseau’s social philosophy, containing, as it does, such elements as a vision of rural community and the presence of a manipulative genius who achieves the appearance of natural harmony through cunning artifice, and who thus anticipates both the tutor in Emile and the legislator of The Social Contract . Both works appeared in 1762, marking the high point of Rousseau’s intellectual achievement.
  • In Group: Early Modern Political Works, 1500 to 1800, Page text
    The work is cast in epistolary form, and is an important supplementary source for the interpretation of Rousseau’s social philosophy, containing, as it does, such elements as a vision of rural community and the presence of a manipulative genius who achieves the appearance of natural harmony through cunning artifice, and who thus anticipates both the tutor in Emile and the legislator of The Social Contract . Both works appeared in 1762, marking the high point of Rousseau’s intellectual achievement.
  • Drafted By: Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Section discussing The Social Contract
View the Source
2. The Social Contract (Wikipedia)
View the Source
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