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Rousseau

Rousseau

6 8.1
A French writer and thinker who says people are naturally good and writes about how society should agree to rules
  • proper noun
  • /ruˈzoʊ/
: Rousseau
  • Despite this diatribe, Rousseau's dream of a free democratic society persisted among the French.
  • Jacques Rousseau
  • Jean-Jacques Rousseau
  • Rousseau and Kant

Then we jumped forward a lot into Descartes, Hobbs, Rousseau, Mary Wollstonecraft.

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Examples

  • In his works, Rousseau emphasized the importance of individual freedom and the social contract.

  • Jean Jacques Rousseau once said that there is no happiness without courage nor virtue without struggle.

  • An important part of the solution, Rousseau believed, lay in the family.

    Academic text (2008)
  • There is, of course, a tradition of this sort of writing, beginning perhaps with Rousseau.

    Academic text (1993)
  • In the thought of Rousseau, these psychological observations become the key to understanding human progress in history.

    Academic text (1992)
  • However, the "Golden Age," as Levi-Strauss, following Rousseau, suggested, is not behind or ahead of us, but in us.

    Fiction book (1995)
  • The disagreement between Mill and Rousseau, to some extent, doubtless involves a difference of temperament.

    Academic text (1999)
  • The roots of Schlafly's antifeminist philosophy lie, surprisingly, in the thought of Jean-Jacques Rousseau.

    Academic text (2008)
  • The ideas of Rousseau about the natural goodness of humans greatly influenced Enlightenment thought.

  • Many of the principles outlined in the Rousseau social contract laid the foundation for modern democracy.

Surface Forms

Rousseau main

Etymology

The name Rousseau comes from an old French word rous meaning 'red', used for someone with red hair, plus the small ending -eau. A helpful way to remember the philosopher Rousseau is to picture a 'red-haired' Frenchman, which reminds you that Rousseau is a French family name.