Jean-Jacques Rousseau, 28 June 1712 – 2 July 1778) was a Genevan philosopher, writer and composer. His political philosophy influenced the progress of the Enlightenment throughout Europe, as well as aspects of the French Revolution and the development of modern political, economic and educational thought. His Discourse on Inequality and The Social Contract are cornerstones in modern political and social thought. Rousseau's sentimental novel Julie, or the New Heloise (1761) was important to the development of Romanticism and Romanticism in fiction. His Emile, or On Education (1762) is an educational treatise on the place of the individual in society. Rousseau's autobiographical writings—the posthumously published Confessions (composed in 1769), which initiated the modern autobiography, and the unfinished Reveries of a Solitary Walker (composed 1776–1778)—exemplified the late-18th-century "Age of Sensibility", and featured an increased focus on subjectivity and introspection that later characterized modern writing.. During the period of the French Revolution, Rousseau was the most popular of the philosophers among members of the Jacobin Club. He was interred as a national hero in the Panthéon in Paris, in 1794, 16 years after his death. (Wikipedia) SEE BELOW THE LINK TO THE PDF COPY OF MONDAY LECTURE ON ROUSSEAU 26.motwm.rousseau.5.11  
MATERIAL ON THE WEB

Chronology of the 18th century

Rousseau biography

REQUIRED READING

Jean-Jacques Rousseau,

Discourse on the Origin of Inequality,

Hackett,

ISBN 0872201503

RECOMMENDED READING

Maurice Cranston,

Vol. 1: Jean-Jacques; the early Life and Work,

University of Chicago Press,

ISBN 0226118622

Maurice Cranston,

Vol. 2: The Noble Savage,

University of Chicago Press,

ISBN 0226118649

The best biography of Rousseau is written by an Englishman, (Can you imagine how the French hate that!) Maurice Cranston who devoted a lifetime to Rousseau and produced a brilliant biography at the end of his life. It is available in 3 softcover volumes. It is very readable, very well written. For our work the first volume is the most immediately useful but all three are worth reading at some point in your investigations into Romanticism.

Vol. 1: Jean-Jacques; the early Life and Work (1712-1754)

Vol. 2: The Noble Savage (1754-1762)

Vol. 3: The Solitary Self (1762-1778)

University of Chicago Press.

Maurice Cranston,

Vol. 3: The Solitary Self,

University of Chicago Press,

ISBN 0226118665