Other Works
Discourse on Political Economy
- Recommended edition: "Discourse on Political Economy," Jean-Jacques Rousseau: The Basic Political Writings, trans. Donald A. Cress, Hackett Publishing Company, 1987. Fist published in 1755.Excerpt: Even if there were as close an analogy as many authors maintain between the State and the family, it would not follow that the rules of conduct proper for one of these societies would be also proper for the other. They differ too much in extent to be… More
‘Abstract of the Abbe de Saint-Pierre’s Plan for Perpetual Peace’ and ‘Judgment of the Plan for Perpetual Peace’
- Recommended translation: ‘The Plan for Perpetual Peace,’ in The Plan for Perpetual Peace, On the Government of Poland, and Other Writings on History and Politics, The Collected Writings of Rousseau, vol. 11; ed. by Roger D. Masters and Christopher Kelly; trans. by Christopher Kelly and Judith Bush (Hanover, NH: University Press of New England at Dartmouth College, 2005), 25-49.Published in 1761, Rousseau’s The Plan for Perpetual Peace was an edited version of the Abbe Saint-Pierre’s plan of the same name. The work argued that a united federation of states was needed to maintain peace in Europe. Rousseau’s critique in… More
Letter from J.J. Rousseau to M. de Voltaire
- Recommended translation: Rousseau, Jean-Jacques. “Letter from J.J. Rousseau to M. de Voltaire.” In Rousseau: The Discourses and Other Early Political Writings, 2nd ed., edited and translated by Victor Gourevitch, 232–246. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2019.Rousseau’s “Letter to Voltaire,” originally published in 1756. Rousseau to Voltaire, 18 August 1756, from J.A. Leigh, ed., Correspondence complète de Jean-Jacques Rousseau, vol. 4 (Geneva, 1967), pp. 37-50; translated by R. Spang. … More
Essay on the Origin of Languages
- Recommended Translation: ‘Essay on the Origin of Languages,’ in Rousseau: The Discourses and other early political writings, ed. and trans. by Victor Gourevitch (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997), 247-299.Rousseau’s Essay on the Origin of Languages (Essai sur l’origine des langues) was first published posthumously in 1781. Rousseau wrote that he had originally intended to include this work in the his Second Discourse but that he finally decided to omit… More
The Government of Poland
- Rousseau, Jean-Jacques. The Government of Poland. Edited and translated by Willmoore Kendall. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing, 1985. Originally completed in 1772.Commissioned by a Polish political leader who sought advice about how to best structure and reform the Polish government, Considerations on the Government of Poland (1772) represented Rousseau’s attempt to apply the abstract principles of The… More
Letter to d’Alembert on the Theatre
- Rousseau, Jean-Jacques. Politics and the Arts: Letter to M. D'Alembert on the Theatre. Translated by Allan Bloom. Agora Paperback Edition. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1968. First published by Agora Editions, 1960.In October of 1758, Rousseau published the Letter to d’Alembert to refute Jean d’Alembert’s suggestion that Geneva establish a public theater. Rousseau’s essay critiqued the immorality of the Parisian theater and argued that a… More