Discourse on Sciences and Arts

· The Collected Works of Jean-Jacques Rousseau Book 7 · Minerva Heritage Press
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About this ebook

"Rousseau's Discourse on the Sciences and the Arts challenged the Enlightenment belief in the perfectibility of human nature through reason, and questioned the social and political effects of the pursuit of knowledge." - Michel Foucault

"Rousseau may be said to have founded the romantic movement. The great ideals of liberty, equality, and fraternity, which inspired the French Revolution, were first formulated by him. He was one of the first thinkers to emphasize the importance of emotion and feeling in human affairs." - Bertrand Russell

A new translation into English from the original manuscripts of Rousseau's classic and influential 1750 Discourse on Sciences and Arts (Discours sur les sciences et les arts). Here he argues that the progress of the arts and sciences has led to moral and social decline. Rousseau believed that the development of human reason had led to a loss of compassion and virtue, and that science and technology had created a society that was more unequal and less free.

About the author

A Genevan philosopher, writer, and composer of the 18th-century Enlightenment, Rousseau's philosophy of education and the nature of man had a profound influence on the French Revolution and the development of modern political, sociological, and educational thought. His most important works include "The Social Contract" and "Émile, or On Education."

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