History Creator / JeanJacquesRousseau

* ''Confessions'', 1770, published 1782. It is NOT to be confused with [[Literature/{{Confessions}} the work of the same name]] by Saint Creator/AugustineOfHippo.

* ''Dialogues: Rousseau Judge of Jean-Jacques'', published 1782

Jean-Jacques Rousseau (28 June 1712 – 2 July 1778) was a [[UsefulNotes/{{Switzerland}} Genevan]][[note]]of French descent[[/note]] [[ThePhilosopher philosopher]] and writer of French expression. His philosophy significantly influenced UsefulNotes/TheFrenchRevolution (the Jacobin Club especially, although they took a [[{{Understatement}} rather extreme]] interpretation of his works later on), UsefulNotes/TheAmericanRevolution as well as the overall development of modern political, sociological, and educational thought.

Also notable for being so hypocritical that he even outdid UsefulNotes/ThomasJefferson. Rousseau loved children and wrote about education many times, and yet he sent to the orphanage all of the children he fathered out of wedlock. A fan of vegetarianism, he regularly served meat at his home and probably ate it himself. While he wrote about the natural equality of ''men'', he said that ''women'' were naturally inferior. He said that the arts had a negative effect on human progress and that they promoted laziness, but he himself composed several pieces of music. Yeah, fans of the guy are often faced with a lot of WhatTheHellHero moments. Or they do not if one considers him TheVillain which many of them however don't.

* ''Confessions'', 1770, published 1782. It is NOT to be confused with [[Literature/Confessions the work of the same name]] by Saint Creator/AugustineOfHippo.

* ''Confessions'', 1770, published 1782

The first to criticize Rousseau were his fellow philosophers, and above all, Creator/{{Voltaire}}. According to Jacques Barzun, Voltaire, who had felt annoyed by the essay ''On the Arts and Sciences'', was outraged by ''Discourse on the Origin and Basis of Inequality Among Men'', declaring that “Rousseau wanted us to walk on all fours” like animals and behave like savages, believing them creatures of perfection. From these inexact interpretations spring the clichés "NobleSavage" and "State of Nature". Rousseau also had to face censorship and open attacks of other philosophers in France and Geneva, to the point of risking his liberty and life and developping a persecutory delusion. His protectors helped him to get his banned books (published in Holland by Marc-Michel Rey) distributed in France disguised as other works, using false covers and title pages. Most of his works after 1770 were published posthumously. Rousseau emphasized emotion more than most of his other Enlightenment-era contemporaries, and his writings paved the way for the [[{{Romanticism}} Romantic era]].

He was also a music theorist (he wrote approximately 180 articles about music in Denis Diderot's ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encyclop%C3%A9die Encyclopédie]]'') and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ld7XDELDnto composer]].

Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778) was a [[UsefulNotes/{{Switzerland}} Genevan]][[note]]of French descent[[/note]] [[ThePhilosopher philosopher]] and writer of French expression. His philosophy significantly influenced UsefulNotes/TheFrenchRevolution (the Jacobin Club especially, although they took a [[{{Understatement}} rather extreme]] interpretation of his works later on), UsefulNotes/TheAmericanRevolution as well as the overall development of modern political, sociological, and educational thought.

Also notable for being so hypocritical that he even outdid UsefulNotes/ThomasJefferson. Rousseau loved children and wrote about education many times, and yet he sent to the orphanage all of the children he fathered out of wedlock. A fan of vegetarianism, he regularly served meat at his home and probably ate it himself. While he wrote about the natural equality of ''men'', he said that ''women'' were naturally inferior. He said that the arts had a negative effect on human progress and that they promoted laziness, but he himself composed several pieces of music. Yeah, fans of the guy are often faced with a lot of WhatTheHellHero moments.

Rousseau is technically the man responsible for making generations of people believe UsefulNotes/MarieAntoinette said [[BeamMeUpScotty "Let them eat cake"]] in October 1789. He actually said that it was a very distant relative of hers also named Marie who said it. This woman lived a century before Marie Antoinette was alive. Rousseau also wrote the quote ''22 years before Marie Antoinette was born'' and he died 11 years before 1789. It was mostly [[UsefulNotes/TheFrenchRevolution propaganda]] [[BeamMeUpScottythat made people think she said it]].

Rousseau is technically the man responsible for making generations of people believe UsefulNotes/MarieAntoinette said [[BeamMeUpScotty "Let them eat cake"]] in October 1789. He actually said that it was a very distant relative of hers also named Marie who said it. This woman lived a century before Marie Antoinette was alive. Rousseau also wrote the quote ''22 years before Marie Antoinette was born'' and he died 11 years before 1789. It was mostly [[UsefulNotes/TheFrenchRevolution propaganda that made people think she said it]].

->''"Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains."'' - The opening sentence of ''The Social Contract''