Rousseau: Dreamer of Democracy

Jean-Jacques Rousseau's writings on the justice of self-government shocked the ruling class of his native Geneva, forced the author into exile, and led to the burning of his books. However, from Geneva to Paris his dream of democracy took hold, profoundly influencing the French Revolution and the rebirth of democratic ideals in the modern world.Through an unusual blend of biography, philosophy, and history, James Miller shows how a solitary dreamer came to inspire a generation of radicals. He explores the pivotal role played by imagination in Rousseau's thinking, describes his seductive political reveries about Geneva, analyzes the argument of the Social Contract and the Letters Written from the Mountain, and explains how Rousseau's treatment of democracy amounted to a bold break with traditional republican theories. By telling the story of Rousseau's impact on events in Geneva and Paris and by questioning the logic of his philosophy of freedom, this book recaptures a lost world of political controversy.A fresh look at Rousseau's view of democracy is overdue. Though previous generations considered Rousseau a subversive apostle of "extreme freedom," critics recently have tended to treat him as a conservative, stoic, or devious authoritarian. In this fascinating and perceptive book, Miller pays due regard to the paradoxes of Rousseau's political thought but focuses on the importance of his commitment to popular sovereignty. He makes it clear that Rousseau's work remains crucial for understanding not only the origins of modern democracy but also its prospects.