Of The Social Contract and Other Political Writings av Jean-Jacques Rousseau

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<p>''Man was born free, and everywhere he is in chains.'' <br><br>These are the famous opening words of a treatise that has stirred vigorous debate ever 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.<br><br>Translated by Quintin Hoare<br>With a new introduction by Christopher Bertram</p>