Penguin Great Ideas The Social Contract, (Paperback)

from alexgalindo

The Social Contract is Jean-Jacques Rousseau's seminal work. He takes on the question of the state, government, and man's desire to be free under these conditions. Although Rousseau speaks quite too favorably of Rome and Sparta when justifying his main points, he nevertheless provides a provocati...

from P_S_Patrick

Here Rousseau introduces the idea of the "Social Contract" as being the establishing force behind structured civil society, governments, and states. The social contract is a mutually beneficial agreement between the members of the society, and is crucial to the existence of any society. What is a...

from bookworm12

This fascinating commentary on the way society works is packed full of wisdom. Rousseau explores the unspoken agreement each individual makes with the society in which they operate. He contends that many of our basic rights are not rights at all, but silent commitments everyone within our society...

from greeniezona

I continue to love the Penguin Great Ideas series. Though the simple inclusion of a date of original publication would be very nice.Anyway, the book is a discussion of governments. Ideal governments vs. real governments, the best government for a given state, the nature of governance and governor...

from heidip

The Social Contract was another surprising book. Rousseau advocates a society based on the "General Will" of the people. The "general will" is actually the sovereign in a society--not a king. Each person has a social pact with others in their society. The pact is to submit to the "general will." ...