Books by Jean-Jacques Rousseau
“The most famous of his autobiographical writings is the Confessions, but there’s also Reveries of a Solitary Walker, and the famous Dialogues, where you have a very paranoid Rousseau in conversation with another character, ‘the Frenchman,’ concerning the faults of an alter ego, Jean-Jacques. So Rousseau did tell the story of his own life, but Damrosch tells it very well in English. He also has some reflections on the veracity of Rousseau’s own autobiographical writings, which is an interesting aspect of Damrosch’s book. On the whole, he finds that Rousseau was quite truthful. Of course there are elements of the story Rousseau tells about himself where he is self-deceived, or indeed paranoid, but so far as telling the truth about the facts and external events of his life, he seems to have been quite honest with us.” Read more...
The best books on Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Chris Bertram, Philosopher
Discourse on Inequality
by Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Rousseau is really the first argue that lying is not a religious problem, it is a natural phenomenon.
Interviews where books by Jean-Jacques Rousseau were recommended
The best books on Deceit, recommended by Dallas Denery
The Professor of History outlines how our understanding of deceit has changed: from a devilish sin in the Middle Ages, to a social necessity in the Enlightenment
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1
Jean-Jacques Rousseau: Restless Genius
by Leo Damrosch -
2
Reading Rousseau in the Nuclear Age
by Grace Roosevelt -
3
Rousseau: An Introduction to His Psychological, Social and Political Theory
by N J H Dent -
4
Rousseau, the Age of Enlightenment, and Their Legacies
by Robert Wokler -
5
Rousseau’s Critique of Inequality
by Frederick Neuhouser
The best books on Jean-Jacques Rousseau, recommended by Chris Bertram
The best books on Jean-Jacques Rousseau, recommended by Chris Bertram
The 18th century composer, writer and philosopher spent his latter years “alone upon the earth, having no brother, or neighbour, or friend, or society but myself”. But he only had himself to blame, says philosophy professor and Rousseau scholar Chris Bertram. Here, he chooses the best five books on this complex man’s life and work.
