Jean Jacques Rousseau

Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778) was a Geneva-born philosopher, writer, educational thinker, and musician associated with the French Enlightenment. He contributed to the Encyclopédie, writing articles on music. In 1750, he won a prize from the Academy of Dijon for his discourse on the sciences and the arts. His best-known works include “Julie, or the New Heloise,” “Emile,” “The Social Contract,” and “The Confessions.” Rousseau’s writings on freedom, inequality, education, and political order had a major influence on European intellectual history and helped shape modern ideas of democracy. He travelled extensively and largely educated himself.