Rousseau The Sentiment of Existence [Hardcover]

In this volume David Gauthier examines Rousseau's evolving notion of freedom, focusing on his later works.Rousseau is often portrayed as an educational and social reformer whose aim was to increase individual freedom. In this volume, the distinguished philosopher David Gauthier examines Rousseau's evolving notion of freedom, particularly in his later works, where he focuses on a single quest: Can freedom and the independent self be regained?Rousseau is often portrayed as an educational and social reformer whose aim was to increase individual freedom. In this volume, the distinguished philosopher David Gauthier examines Rousseau's evolving notion of freedom, particularly in his later works, where he focuses on a single quest: Can freedom and the independent self be regained?The distinguished philosopher David Gauthier examines Rousseau's evolving notion of freedom, particularly in his later works, where he focuses on a single quest: Can freedom and the independent self be regained? Rousseau's first answer is given in Emile, where he seeks to create a self-sufficient individual, neither materially nor psychologically enslaved to others. His second answer comes in the Social Contract, where he seeks to create a citizen who identifies totally with his community, so that he experiences his dependence on it only as a dependence on himself. Implicitly recognizing the failure of these solutions, his third answer is one of the main themes of the Confessions and Reveries, where he creates himself as the man made for a kind of love that merges with another's into a self-sufficient unity.Preface; 1. Legends of the fall; 2. Making a man; 3. Politics of redemption; 4. In Julie's garden; 5. Making Jean-Jacques; 6. Citizen of Geneva; 7. The last promenade. Gauthier's reading of Rousseau's works, especially in terms of the key ideas of dependence and freedom, is, in many places , highly illuminating and does begin to bring to light the structures of an underlying unity. - Ann Hartl&