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[[Image:T768.jpg|right|thumb|Jean Jacques Rousseau]]

[[Image:T768.jpg|right|thumb|Jean Jacques Rousseau]]

Swiss-born political [[philosopher]] '''Jean Jacques Rousseau''' (1712-1778) wrote several controversial works.  He felt that [[politics]] and [[morality]] could not be separated, and that the will of the majority was not always correct. Many Americans today would agree with that view.  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 and prominent [[liberal]] and [[socialist]] social theorist.  He felt 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.

Rousseau's most famous work was the "The Social Contract" (1762), which supported a direct [[democracy]] rather than the republican form of government adopted 25 years later by the [[U.S. Constitution]].  Rousseau's "[[social contract]]" was a contract among free people to create government.  Rousseau disapproved of titles like nobility, and demanded complete equality between all people.

Rousseau's most famous work was the "The Social Contract" (1762), which supported a direct [[democracy]] based on a "public will" rather than republican forms of government 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.

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[[Category:Philosophers]]

[[Category:Philosophers]]