Birth:
June 28, 1712, Geneva, Switzerland
Death:
July 2, 1778, Paris, France
Early Influences:
- Mother died at birth
- Deserted by his father at a young age
- Ran away from rigid life as an apprentice to a coppersmith in 1728
- Travelled to Paris in 1742 and was asked by Denis Diderot to contribute articles on music to the Encyclopedie
- Met a servant in 1745 with whom he had numerous illegitimate children
Education:
- Educated in Turin
- Spent many later years receiving private education in the home of his guardian
Major Accomplishments:
- Published Emile (1762), a treatise on education where he said that humans are basically good
- Published The Social Contract (1762)
Significance:
- Had a great influence on the romantic movement
- Had a major influence on Immanuel Kant, a late-18th century philosopher
- Believed that the will of the majority is not always correct.
- Instead, the state must act in a moral manner preserving freedom, equality and justice. Otherwise, the people can rebel.
- Was one of the first to attack the institute of private property
Contemporaries:
