Title page from The Social Contract and Discourses

The Social Contract and Discourses

This 1913 edition of Rousseau’s works includes the famous Social Contract as well as 3 discourses on Arts and Sciences, the Origin of Inequality, and Political Economy. Rousseau’s writings inspired liberals and non-liberals alike which makes him rather controversial in the history of political thought.

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Presidents, Kings, Tyrants, & Despots

First, when the prince ceases to administer the State in accordance with the laws, and usurps the Sovereign power. A remarkable change then occurs: not the government, but the State, undergoes contraction; I mean that the great State is dissolved, and another is formed within it, composed solely of…

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