Of The Social Contract and Other Political Writings
- Author Jean-Jacques Rousseau
- Narrator Heather Long, John Kapansa, Roy McMillan
- Publisher Penguin Books Ltd
- Run Time 13 hours and 21 minutes
- Format Audio
- Genre Social and political philosophy, Western philosophy: Enlightenment.
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What to expect
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'Man was born free, and everywhere he is in chains.'
These are the famous opening words of a treatise that has stirred vigorous debate ever since its first publication in 1762. Rejecting the view that anyone has a natural right to wield authority over others, Rousseau argues instead for a pact, or 'social contract', that should exist between all the citizens of a state and that should be the source of sovereign power. From this fundamental premise, he goes on to consider issues of liberty and law, freedom and justice, arriving at a view of society that has seemed to some a blueprint for totalitarianism, to others a declaration of democratic principles.
© Translated by Quintin Hoare 2012 (P) Penguin Audio 2022
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