The Social Contract, originally published as On the Social Contract; or, Principles of Political Right, is a 1762 French-language book by the Genevan philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau. The book theorizes about how to establish legitimate authority in a political community, that is, one compatible with individual freedom, in the face of the problems of commercial society, which Rousseau had already identified in his Discourse on Inequality (1755).
Title page of the first octavo edition
Title page of a pirated edition of the Social Contract, probably printed in Germany
Jean-Jacques Rousseau was a Genevan philosopher (philosophe), writer, and composer. His political philosophy influenced the progress of the Age of Enlightenment throughout Europe, as well as aspects of the French Revolution and the development of modern political, economic, and educational thought.
1753 portrait
The house where Rousseau was born at number 40, Grand-Rue, Geneva
Les Charmettes, where Rousseau lived with Françoise-Louise de Warens from 1735 to 1736, now a museum dedicated to Rousseau
Françoise-Louise de Warens