# The social contract & discourses

Author: Rousseau, Jean-Jacques, 1712-1778; Cole, G. D. H. (George Douglas Howard), 1889-1959 [Translator]

Genre: Category: Philosophy & Ethics

Language: English

License: Public domain

Source: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/46333

Amazon editions: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=The+social+contract+%26+discourses+Rousseau&tag=cyberlibrar00-20

## Summary

We have seen that the contrast between the "state of nature" and the "state of society" runs through all Rousseau's work. The _Emile_ is a plea for "natural" education; the Discourses are a plea for a "naturalisation" of society; the _New Héloïse_ is the romantic's appeal for more "nature" in human relationships. What then is the position of this contrast in Rousseau's mature political thought? It is clear that the position is not merely that of the Discourses. In them, he envisaged only the faults of actual societies; now, he is concerned with the possibility of a rational society. His aim is to justify the change from "nature" to "society," although it has left men in chains. He is in s...

## Chapters

- [CHAPTER IX](https://www.cyberlibrary.org/en/books/the-social-contract-and-discourses-46333/chapters/56/index.md)
- [Book I, chap. ii).](https://www.cyberlibrary.org/en/books/the-social-contract-and-discourses-46333/chapters/1/index.md)
- [CHAPTER VIII](https://www.cyberlibrary.org/en/books/the-social-contract-and-discourses-46333/chapters/55/index.md)
- [CHAPTER IV](https://www.cyberlibrary.org/en/books/the-social-contract-and-discourses-46333/chapters/51/index.md)
- [CHAPTER VI](https://www.cyberlibrary.org/en/books/the-social-contract-and-discourses-46333/chapters/35/index.md)
- [CHAPTER I](https://www.cyberlibrary.org/en/books/the-social-contract-and-discourses-46333/chapters/29/index.md)
- [CHAPTER VIII](https://www.cyberlibrary.org/en/books/the-social-contract-and-discourses-46333/chapters/37/index.md)
- [CHAPTER IV](https://www.cyberlibrary.org/en/books/the-social-contract-and-discourses-46333/chapters/10/index.md)
- [CHAPTER VII](https://www.cyberlibrary.org/en/books/the-social-contract-and-discourses-46333/chapters/22/index.md)
- [CHAPTER IV](https://www.cyberlibrary.org/en/books/the-social-contract-and-discourses-46333/chapters/19/index.md)
- [CHAPTER XV](https://www.cyberlibrary.org/en/books/the-social-contract-and-discourses-46333/chapters/44/index.md)
- [CHAPTER X](https://www.cyberlibrary.org/en/books/the-social-contract-and-discourses-46333/chapters/39/index.md)
- [CHAPTER VI](https://www.cyberlibrary.org/en/books/the-social-contract-and-discourses-46333/chapters/21/index.md)
- [CHAPTER VI](https://www.cyberlibrary.org/en/books/the-social-contract-and-discourses-46333/chapters/53/index.md)
- [CHAPTER II](https://www.cyberlibrary.org/en/books/the-social-contract-and-discourses-46333/chapters/49/index.md)
- [CHAPTER X](https://www.cyberlibrary.org/en/books/the-social-contract-and-discourses-46333/chapters/25/index.md)
- [CHAPTER IX](https://www.cyberlibrary.org/en/books/the-social-contract-and-discourses-46333/chapters/15/index.md)
- [CHAPTER II](https://www.cyberlibrary.org/en/books/the-social-contract-and-discourses-46333/chapters/30/index.md)
- [CHAPTER VI](https://www.cyberlibrary.org/en/books/the-social-contract-and-discourses-46333/chapters/12/index.md)
- [CHAPTER IX](https://www.cyberlibrary.org/en/books/the-social-contract-and-discourses-46333/chapters/24/index.md)
- [CHAPTER XI](https://www.cyberlibrary.org/en/books/the-social-contract-and-discourses-46333/chapters/26/index.md)
- [CHAPTER V](https://www.cyberlibrary.org/en/books/the-social-contract-and-discourses-46333/chapters/20/index.md)
- [CHAPTER VII](https://www.cyberlibrary.org/en/books/the-social-contract-and-discourses-46333/chapters/13/index.md)
- [CHAPTER I](https://www.cyberlibrary.org/en/books/the-social-contract-and-discourses-46333/chapters/48/index.md)
- [CHAPTER II](https://www.cyberlibrary.org/en/books/the-social-contract-and-discourses-46333/chapters/8/index.md)
- [CHAPTER IX](https://www.cyberlibrary.org/en/books/the-social-contract-and-discourses-46333/chapters/38/index.md)
- [CHAPTER XVIII](https://www.cyberlibrary.org/en/books/the-social-contract-and-discourses-46333/chapters/47/index.md)
- [CHAPTER V](https://www.cyberlibrary.org/en/books/the-social-contract-and-discourses-46333/chapters/33/index.md)
- [CHAPTER V](https://www.cyberlibrary.org/en/books/the-social-contract-and-discourses-46333/chapters/52/index.md)
- [CHAPTER III](https://www.cyberlibrary.org/en/books/the-social-contract-and-discourses-46333/chapters/50/index.md)
- [CHAPTER IV](https://www.cyberlibrary.org/en/books/the-social-contract-and-discourses-46333/chapters/32/index.md)
- [CHAPTER II](https://www.cyberlibrary.org/en/books/the-social-contract-and-discourses-46333/chapters/17/index.md)
- [CHAPTER VIII](https://www.cyberlibrary.org/en/books/the-social-contract-and-discourses-46333/chapters/23/index.md)
- [CHAPTER VII](https://www.cyberlibrary.org/en/books/the-social-contract-and-discourses-46333/chapters/54/index.md)
- [CHAPTER III](https://www.cyberlibrary.org/en/books/the-social-contract-and-discourses-46333/chapters/18/index.md)
- [CHAPTER XIII](https://www.cyberlibrary.org/en/books/the-social-contract-and-discourses-46333/chapters/42/index.md)
- [CHAPTER XII](https://www.cyberlibrary.org/en/books/the-social-contract-and-discourses-46333/chapters/27/index.md)
- [CHAPTER I](https://www.cyberlibrary.org/en/books/the-social-contract-and-discourses-46333/chapters/16/index.md)
- [CHAPTER XVI](https://www.cyberlibrary.org/en/books/the-social-contract-and-discourses-46333/chapters/45/index.md)
- [CHAPTER XI](https://www.cyberlibrary.org/en/books/the-social-contract-and-discourses-46333/chapters/40/index.md)
- [CHAPTER III](https://www.cyberlibrary.org/en/books/the-social-contract-and-discourses-46333/chapters/31/index.md)
- [CHAPTER XVII](https://www.cyberlibrary.org/en/books/the-social-contract-and-discourses-46333/chapters/46/index.md)
- [CHAPTER VIII](https://www.cyberlibrary.org/en/books/the-social-contract-and-discourses-46333/chapters/14/index.md)
- [CHAPTER III](https://www.cyberlibrary.org/en/books/the-social-contract-and-discourses-46333/chapters/9/index.md)
- [CHAPTER XII](https://www.cyberlibrary.org/en/books/the-social-contract-and-discourses-46333/chapters/41/index.md)
- [CHAPTER VII](https://www.cyberlibrary.org/en/books/the-social-contract-and-discourses-46333/chapters/36/index.md)
- [CHAPTER V](https://www.cyberlibrary.org/en/books/the-social-contract-and-discourses-46333/chapters/11/index.md)
- [CHAPTER XIV](https://www.cyberlibrary.org/en/books/the-social-contract-and-discourses-46333/chapters/43/index.md)
- [BOOK I](https://www.cyberlibrary.org/en/books/the-social-contract-and-discourses-46333/chapters/6/index.md)
- [CHAPTER I](https://www.cyberlibrary.org/en/books/the-social-contract-and-discourses-46333/chapters/7/index.md)
- [BOOK IV](https://www.cyberlibrary.org/en/books/the-social-contract-and-discourses-46333/chapters/5/index.md)
- [BOOK III](https://www.cyberlibrary.org/en/books/the-social-contract-and-discourses-46333/chapters/4/index.md)
- [BOOK I](https://www.cyberlibrary.org/en/books/the-social-contract-and-discourses-46333/chapters/2/index.md)
- [BOOK II](https://www.cyberlibrary.org/en/books/the-social-contract-and-discourses-46333/chapters/3/index.md)
- [BOOK III](https://www.cyberlibrary.org/en/books/the-social-contract-and-discourses-46333/chapters/28/index.md)
- [did. The first of these has therefore long been a State dissolved; the](https://www.cyberlibrary.org/en/books/the-social-contract-and-discourses-46333/chapters/34/index.md)