Rousseau mini biography lessons for adults

If so, you agree with Jean-Jacques Rousseau. This French philosopher and Enlightenment thinker believed government should be based on the idea of promoting the collective good. Here, you'll learn about Jean-Jacques Rousseau's biography and his beliefs, theories, and political philosophy. Rousseau was an avid reader from a young age, and he attributed his republican ideas to his reading of Plutarch as a young man.

By his late 20s, he had become interested in philosophy, and he also began a career in music as a composer around this time. He later wrote an opera that was performed for King Louis XV in He also achieved fame for winning an essay contest in in which he published his Discourse on the Arts and Sciences where he argued man was basically good by nature but the arts and sciences corrupted him.

In , he returned to live in Geneva, where he continued to publish works on philosophy, religion, and politics. This brought him into conflict with the authorities and his books were banned there and in France along with warrants for his arrest. In , he negotiated a return to Paris. He was welcomed as a famed celebrity and visited by many.

Jean-jacques rousseau quotes

He visited Britain for a time before returning to France. In , he finished his autobiography Confessions , although it wouldn't be published until , after his death. Much of what we know about Jean-Jacques Rousseau's biography is from this book. In , Rousseau suffered an accident when he tried to dodge both a carriage and a dog on a narrow street.

Historians today believe he likely suffered a concussion and possibly cerebral bleeding, although he remained intellectually active and seemed to be healthy.