Rousseau

A Free Community of Equals
Erscheinungsjahr 2010
ISBN: 978-0-19-958150-4
Verlag: OUP Oxford

Buch, Englisch, 224 Seiten, Format (B × H): 156 mm x 234 mm, Gewicht: 327 g

Reihe: Founders of Modern Political and Social Thought

In famously beautiful and laconic prose, Jean-Jacques Rousseau presents us with a forceful picture of a democratic society, in which we live together as free and equal, and our politics focuses on the common good. In Rousseau: A Free Community of Equals Joshua Cohen explains how the values of freedom, equality, and community all work together as parts of the democratic ideal expressed in Rousseau's conception of the 'society of the general will'. The book
also explains Rousseau's anti-Augustinian and anti-Hobbesian idea that we are naturally good, shows why Rousseau thinks it is reasonable for us to endorse that idea, and discusses how our natural goodness might make a free community of equals possible for us. And Cohen examines in detail Rousseau's picture of
the institutions of a democratic society: why he emphasised the importance of political participation, how he argued against extreme inequalities, and what led him to embrace a civil religion as necessary for the society of the general will. This book provides an analytical and critical appraisal of Rousseau's political thought that, while frank about its limits, also explains its enduring power.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Cohen, Joshua

Philip, Mark

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politikwissenschaft Allgemein Politische Theorie, Politische Philosophie
• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Sozialphilosophie, Politische Philosophie

Über Autor(innen)

Joshua Cohen taught political philosophy at MIT from 1977-2006, and now teaches at Stanford in political science, philosophy, and law, where he is Marta Sutton Weeks Professor of Ethics in Society.