Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, (1712-78). Swiss philosopher and novelist. He was apprenticed to an engraver at the age of 13 but ran away in 1728 because of ill-treatment. He then spent some years travelling, his nomadic existence at this time being vividly described in his Confessions (1782). In 1744 he settled in Paris and began a relationship with a servant girl, Therese le Vasseur, who bore him five children, all of whom he disposed of to a foundlings’ hospital. His early works included plays and the essay Discourse on the Origin and Foundations of Inequality (1754), which argued that men are naturally innocent and corrupted by society. The novel Emile (1762) embodies his educational theories, while The Social Contract (1762) is a statement of political principles that influenced the French revolutionaries. In later life Rousseau became subject to attacks of paranoia and finally became insane.
“Rousseau, sir, is a very bad man. I would sooner sign a sentence for his transportation than that of any felon who has gone from the Old Bailey these many years. Yes, I would like to have him work in the plantations.
Samuel Johnson in James Boswell, The Life of Johnson (1791)”
