Rousseau: The Basic Political Writings (Second Edition)

This substantially revised new edition of Rousseau: The Basic Political Writings features a brilliant new Introduction by David Wootton, a revision by Donald A. Cress of his own 1987 translation of Rousseau’s most important political writings, and the addition of Cress’ new translation of Rousseau's State of  War. New footnotes, headnotes, and a chronology by David Wootton provide expert guidance to first-time readers of the texts.

SKU
27048g

Discourse on the Sciences and the Arts, Discourse on the Origin of Inequality, Discourse on Political Economy, On the Social Contract, The State of War

Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Translated and Edited by Donald A. Cress
Introduction and Annotation by David Wootton

May 2012 - 312 pp.

Grouped product items
Format ISBN Price Qty
Cloth 978-1-60384-674-5
$40.00
Paper 978-1-60384-673-8
$14.50
Instructor Examination (Review) Copy 978-1-60384-673-8
$2.00

eBook available for $12.50. Click HERE for more information.

"It is scarcely worth reading Rousseau if we want to understand eighteenth-century politics, either before or after 1789, but it is certainly worth reading his works if we want to understand ourselves and our own politics. For Rousseau’s importance lies, as he always insisted, in his remarkable understanding of the nature of human beings. He, more than any other political theorist, has something important to say about who we are and what politics is for."
     —from the Introduction

This substantially revised new edition of Rousseau: The Basic Political Writings features a brilliant new Introduction by David Wootton, a revision by Donald A. Cress of his own 1987 translation of Rousseau’s most important political writings, and the addition of Cress’ new translation of Rousseau's State of  War. New footnotes, headnotes, and a chronology by David Wootton provide expert guidance to first-time readers of the texts.


About the Authors:

Donald A. Cress is Professor Emeritus of Philosophy, University of  Wisconsin, Parkside. His translations of Descartes’ Meditations on First Philosophy and Discourse on Method are also published by Hackett.

David Wootton is Anniversary Professor of History, University of  York. His translations of Machiavelli: Selected Political Writings, More’s Utopia, and Voltaire’s Candide—as well as his Divine Right and Democracy: An Anthology of Political Writings in Stuart England, his edition of Locke: Political Writings, and his Essential Federalist and Anti-Federalist Papers—are also available from Hackett.