The Social Contract (Annotated)
Enriched Edition. Enlightenment Political Philosophy on Popular Sovereignty, the General Will, Democracy, and Modern FreedomBy Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Length8h 19m
About this audiobook
In The Social Contract (1762), Jean-Jacques Rousseau offers one of the defining works of modern political philosophy, asking how legitimate authority can arise among free and equal persons. Written in a compressed, aphoristic, and rigorously argumentative style, the treatise develops the famous doctrine of the "general will," distinguishing true sovereignty from mere domination. Situated within the Enlightenment yet sharply critical of its complacencies, it challenges hereditary monarchy, private faction, and political inequality. Rousseau, born in Geneva in 1712, was shaped by republican civic traditions, social marginality, and a lifelong suspicion of institutions that corrupt natural freedom. His experiences in France, his conflicts with philosophes, and his earlier writings on inequality and education all inform this work. The Social Contract reflects both his democratic aspirations and his anxiety that liberty requires moral discipline, civic participation, and a shared commitment to the common good. This book is essential for readers seeking to understand revolution, democracy, citizenship, and the tensions between individual liberty and collective authority. Demanding but lucid, it rewards careful reading and remains indispensable to political theory, constitutional thought, and the history of modern freedom.
This enriched edition has been carefully crafted to add value to your reading experience.
- A succinct Introduction situates the work's timeless appeal and themes.
- The Synopsis outlines the central plot, highlighting key developments without spoiling critical twists.
- A detailed Historical Context immerses you in the era's events and influences that shaped the writing.
- An Author Biography reveals milestones in the author's life, illuminating the personal insights behind the text.
- A thorough Analysis dissects symbols, motifs, and character arcs to unearth underlying meanings.
- Reflection questions prompt you to engage personally with the work's messages, connecting them to modern life.
- Hand‐picked Memorable Quotes shine a spotlight on moments of literary brilliance.
- Interactive footnotes clarify unusual references, historical allusions, and archaic phrases for an effortless, more informed read.
Audiobook details
GenrePolitics and Government
Length8 hrs 19 mins
Narrated byListen with 1,000+ voices
FormateBook with Audio
Publish dateMay 1, 2018
LanguageEnglish
Table of contents
1Introduction
32Chapter I. Government in General
2Introduction
33Chapter II. The Constituent Principle in the Various Forms of Government
3Synopsis
34Chapter III. The Division of Governments
4Historical Context
35Chapter IV. Democracy
5Author Biography
36Chapter V. Aristocracy
Show all chaptersShow less
6Introduction
37Chapter VI. Monarchy
7Foreword
38Chapter VII. Mixed Governments
8Book I
39Chapter VIII. That All Forms of Government Do Not Suit All Countries
9Chapter I. Subject of the First Book
40Chapter IX. The Marks of a Good Government
10Chapter II. The First Societies
41Chapter X. The Abuse of Government and Its Tendency to Degenerate
11Chapter III. The Right of the Strongest
42Chapter XI. The Death of the Body Politic
12Chapter IV. Slavery
43Chapter XII. How the Sovereign Authority Maintains Itself
13Chapter V. That We Must Always Go Back to a First Convention
44Chapter XIII. The Same (continued)
14Chapter VI. The Social Compact
45Chapter XIV. The Same (continued)
15Chapter VII. The Sovereign
46Chapter XV. Deputies or Representatives
16Chapter VIII. The Civil State
47Chapter XVI. That the Institution of Government is Not a Contract
17Chapter IX. Real Property
48Chapter XVII. The Institution of Government
18Book II
49Chapter XVIII. How to Check the Usurpations of Government
19Chapter I. That Sovereignty is Inalienable
50Book IV
20Chapter II. That Sovereignty is Indivisible
51Chapter I. That the General Will is Indestructible
21Chapter III. Whether the General Will is Fallible
52Chapter II. Voting
22Chapter IV. The Limits of the Sovereign Power
53Chapter III. Elections
23Chapter V. The Right of Life and Death
54Chapter IV. The Roman Comitia
24Chapter VI. Law
55Chapter V. The Tribunate
25Chapter VII. The Legislator
56Chapter VI. The Dictatorship
26Chapter VIII. The People
57Chapter VII. The Censorship
27Chapter IX. The People (continued)
58Chapter VIII. Civil Religion
28Chapter X. The People (continued)
59Chapter IX. Conclusion
29Chapter XI. The Various Systems of Legislation
60Analysis
30Chapter XII. The Division of the Laws
61Reflection
31Book III
62Memorable Quotes
The Social Contract & EmileJean-Jacques Rousseau33h 43m$2 · $0.00
Emile, or On EducationJean-Jacques Rousseau26h 3m$1 · $0.00
Émile eli KasvatuksestaJean-Jacques Rousseau28h 13m$2 · $0.00
A Discourse Upon the Origin and the Foundation of the Inequality Among MankindJean-Jacques Rousseau2h 50m$2 · $0.00
The Essential Writings of Jean-Jacques RousseauJean-Jacques Rousseau82h 35m$2 · $0.00
Emile & Confessions (Annotated)Jean-Jacques Rousseau56h 15m$2 · $0.00
Emile, Confessions & The Social Contract (3 Books in One Edition)Jean-Jacques Rousseau62h 46m$1 · $0.00
Emile oder über die ErziehungJean-Jacques Rousseau31h 57m$2 · $0.00
Yhteiskuntasopimuksesta, eli, Valtio-oikeuden johtavat aatteetJean-Jacques Rousseau4h 36m$1 · $0.00
The French Revolution and NapoleonJean-Jacques Rousseau, Alexis de Tocqueville, Montesquieu, Charles Downer Hazen62h 54m$2 · $0.00
The Essential Writings of Jean-Jacques RousseauJean-Jacques Rousseau82h 31m$2 · $0.00
El contrato socialJean-Jacques Rousseau5h 58m$2 · $0.00
The Greatest Works of Jean-Jacques Rousseau (Annotated)Jean-Jacques Rousseau70h 1m$2 · $0.00
Emile, or On EducationJean-Jacques Rousseau26h 3m$2 · $0.00
Die größten Bildungsromane der WeltliteraturJean-Jacques Rousseau, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Charlotte Brontë, Stendhal, Charles Dickens, Christoph Martin Wieland, Robert Musil, Fjodor Michailowitsch Dostojewski, Jack London, Gottfried Keller, Voltaire, Daniel Defoe, Gustave Flaubert, Alessandro Manzoni, Frances Hodgson Burnett, Mark Twain, Henry Fielding, John Cleland, Lou Andreas-Salomé, Adalbert Stifter, Emile Zola, Waldemar Bonsels, Rudyard Kipling, Laurence Sterne, Selma Lagerlöf, Paul Scheerbart, Andre Gide, D. H. Lawrence, Charles-Louis Philippe603h 4m$2 · $0.00
CROWD PSYCHOLOGY: Understanding the Phenomenon and Its Causes (10 Books in One Volume)Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Gustave Le Bon, Sigmund Freud, Charles Mackay, Wilfred Trotter, Everett Dean Martin, Walter Lippmann, Gerald Stanley Lee, William McDougall122h 56m$2 · $0.00
The Collected Works of Jean-Jacques Rousseau (Annotated)Jean-Jacques Rousseau85h 13m$2 · $0.00
The Social Contract & Emile (Annotated)Jean-Jacques Rousseau33h 56m$2 · $0.00
Julia, o La nueva HeloísaJean-Jacques Rousseau30h 7m$2 · $0.00
The Gulag Archipelago Volume 3Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn21h 56m$46 · $0.00
MotherlandJulia Ioffe17h 52m$40 · $0.00
I've Been to the MountaintopMartin Luther King48m5 (1)$11 · $0.00
HostageEli Sharabi5h 25m$24 · $0.00
Pardon of Innocencethe Author, Lieutenant General Michael T. Flynn (Ret.)6h 23m$23
KrantikariSanjeev Sanyal11h 44m$16 · $0.00
Unbroken Bonds of BattleJohnny Joey Jones8h 31m$8 · $0.00
On Democracies and Death CultsDouglas Murray10h 38m$29 · $0.00
Legally YoursManasi Chaudhari8h 52m$29 · $0.00
Balcony Over Jerusalem: A Middle East Memoir - Israel, Palestine and BeyondJohn Lyons12h 37m$33 · $0.00
RiggedMollie Hemingway12h 48m$23 · $0.00
The Thomas Sowell ReaderThomas Sowell14h 51m$25
SledgehammerDavid Friedman8h 21m$26 · $0.00
So You Want to Talk about RaceIjeoma Oluo7h 41m$17
Citizenship in a Republic (Annotated)Theodore Roosevelt2h 44m$2 · $0.00
No EscapeNury Turkel9h 30m$28 · $0.00
In Defense of the Second AmendmentLarry Correia6h 50m$17
Always FaithfulThomas Schueman, Zainullah Zaki12h 12m$29 · $0.00
UnthinkableJamie Raskin15h 8m$8 · $0.00
The ManbookNick Freitas5h 43m$24 · $0.00
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