Major Works

• Discourse on the Sciences and the Arts (First Discourse)

  - Recommended Translation: ‘First Discourse,’ in Rousseau: The Discourses and other early political writings, ed. and trans. by Victor Gourevitch (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997), 1-28.  
  In 1750, Rousseau’s First Discourse, or the Discourse on the Sciences and Arts, won an essay contest held by the Academy of Dijon on the topic of, “Whether the restoration of the sciences and arts tended to purify morals?” Rousseau argued that… More

Commentary

• Rousseau’s Exemplary Life

  - Christopher Kelly,Rousseau’s Exemplary Life: The Confessions as Political Philosophy (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1987).
  From the publisher: For Rousseau, “consecrating one’s life to the truth” (his personal credo) meant publicly taking responsibility for what one publishes and only publishing what would be of public benefit. Christopher Kelly argues that this… More