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"Man is born free; and everywhere he is in chains."

These are the famous opening words of a treatise that has not ceased to stir vigorous debate since its first publication in 1762. Rejecting the view that anyone has a natural right to wield authority over others, Rousseau argues instead for a pact, or ‘social contract’, that should exist between all the citizens of a state and that should be the source of sovereign power. From this fundamental premise, he goes on to consider issues of liberty and law, freedom and justice, arriving at a view of society that has seemed to some a blueprint for totalitarianism, to others a declaration of democratic principles.

• Jean-Jacques Rousseau
• Published 1970 January 1st by Penguin (first published 1970 January 1st)
• ISBN: 0143037498
• ISBN13: 9780143037491
• 168 Pages
• 3.78 59012 ratings
• 1982 reviews