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Jean Jacques Rousseau Influence

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Jean – Jacques Rousseau was a very influential philosopher of the Enlightenment period. Not only did he contribute ideas and opinions to society, but he also produced several new theories. Although Jean - Jacques had to go through a rough childhood, a trying education phase, and difficult experiences, he made himself into a highly valued person of his time; Rousseau was so valued that he even ended up in our history books. His ideas of empirical learning, the people – good but society corrupt concept, and his social contract, all sparked immediate new ideas, ones that really made people stop and think like never before. Jean – Jacques Rousseau was born on June 28, 1712, in Geneva, Switzerland. Jean – Jacques was the son of Isaac Rousseau and Suzanne Bernard. A few days after giving birth to Jean – Jacques, Suzanne died. Rousseau did have an older brother, but he had run away from home when Jean – Jacques was still very young. Rousseau’s father raised Rousseau until he was about ten years old. When Jean - Jacques was ten, his father got into a fight with a French captain, and because he was afraid of being imprisoned, he …show more content…

Rousseau’s contract argued that the people should be the only ones to have the power to govern; we were the only individuals deemed sovereign enough to rule. Rousseau believed that the invention of private property also made us become slaves of government; it took away our natural state of nature. With this changing of society, inequality became more pronounced and social classes began to form. This social contract put into effect the guarantee of equality and protection for all. The minimum goal of this contract was to try and rid the inequalities that the formation of private property had produced. It fully supported the idea that liberty should be achieved through the general will and what is best for the entire community, not what is best for just one

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