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[[File:De la Tour Portrait of Jean-Jacques Rousseau.jpg|right|thumb|Jean Jacques Rousseau]]

[[File:De la Tour Portrait of Jean-Jacques Rousseau.jpg|right|thumb|Jean Jacques Rousseau]]

Swiss-born political [[philosopher]] '''Jean Jacques Rousseau''' (1712-1778) was an influential French essayist, prominent [[liberal]] and [[socialist]] social theorist and a leading [[Enlightenment]] thinker.  He argued that [[politics]] and [[morality]] could not be separated, and that the will of the majority was not always correct. However, Rousseau also attacked [[private property]], and laid the groundwork for future [[communist]] writers such as [[Karl Marx]].  Rousseau declared that government's goal should be to provide freedom, equality and justice. But note that freedom often results in inequality.

Swiss-born political [[philosopher]] '''Jean Jacques Rousseau''' (1712-1778) was an influential French essayist, prominent [[liberal]] and [[socialist]] social theorist and a leading [[Enlightenment]] thinker.  He argued that [[politics]] and [[morality]] could not be separated, and that the will of the majority was not always correct. However, Rousseau also attacked [[private property]], and laid the groundwork for the [[French Revolution]] and [[Reign of terror]], and by extension, laid the groundwork for future [[communist]] writers such as [[Karl Marx]].  Rousseau declared that government's goal should be to provide freedom, equality and justice. But note that freedom often results in inequality.

Rousseau's most famous work was ''The Social Contract'' (1762), which supported a direct [[democracy]] based on a "general will" rather than [[republicanism]] such as that adopted 25 years later by the [[U.S. Constitution]].  In it, he further develops the concept of the "[[social contract]]" established by [[Thomas Hobbes]] and [[John Locke]].  Rousseau disapproved of titles like nobility, and demanded complete equality between all people.

Rousseau's most famous work was ''The Social Contract'' (1762), which supported a direct [[democracy]] based on a "general will" rather than [[republicanism]] such as that adopted 25 years later by the [[U.S. Constitution]].  In it, he further develops the concept of the "[[social contract]]" established by [[Thomas Hobbes]] and [[John Locke]].  Rousseau disapproved of titles like nobility, and demanded complete equality between all people.