The Challenge of Rousseau

The essays in this volume focus on Rousseau's genuine yet undervalued stature as a philosopher.

Eve Grace (Edited by), Christopher Kelly (Edited by)

9781107018280, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 17 December 2012

344 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 2.4 cm, 0.68 kg

“The Challenge of Rousseau promises to demonstrate Rousseau’s status as a thinker of the first rank, and it amply delivers. Editors Eve Grace and Christopher Kelly have assembled a diverse and impressive collection of essays, written by some of the most important scholars working on Rousseau in both the United States and France. The Challenge of Rousseau makes the case for Rousseau’s status as a thinker of the first rank by exploring Rousseau’s engagement with his philosophical predecessors; by directing new attention to Rousseau’s contributions in theology, epistemology, and the natural sciences; and by opening fresh perspectives on Rousseau’s political writings. Every essay contains some valuable insight; all are lucidly argued and feature meticulous attention to the texts of Rousseau and his philosophical interlocutors. This collection will be an invaluable resource to anyone seeking a full appreciation of Rousseau’s considerable intellectual achievements or a concise introduction to the best of the secondary literature.”
– Joseph R. Reisert, Colby College

Written by prominent scholars of Jean-Jacques Rousseau's philosophy, this collection celebrates the 300th anniversary of Rousseau's birth and the 250th anniversary of the publication of Emile. The depth and systematic character of Rousseau's thought was recognized almost immediately by thinkers such as Kant and Hegel, yet debate continues over the degree to which Rousseau's legacy is the result of poetic, literary or rhetorical genius, rather than of philosophic rigor or profundity. The authors focus on Rousseau's genuine yet undervalued stature as a philosopher. This collection includes essays that develop some of the complex problems Rousseau treated so radically and profoundly, as well as essays on the vigorous debates he engaged in with thoughtful contemporaries and predecessors.

Introduction Eve Grace and Christopher Kelly
Part I. Politics and Economics: 1. Rousseau and the illustrious Montesquieu Christopher Kelly
2. Political economy and individual liberty Ryan Patrick Hanley
Part II. Science and Epistemology: 3. The presence of sciences in Rousseau's trajectory and works Bruno Bernardi and Bernadette Bensaud-Vincent
4. Epistemology and political perception in the case of Rousseau Terence Marshall
Part III. The Modern or Classical, Theological or Philosophical, Foundations of Rousseau's System: 5. On the intention of Rousseau Leo Strauss
6. On Strauss on Rousseau Victor Gourevitch
7. Built on sand: moral law in Rousseau's Second Discourse Victor Gourevitch
8. Rousseau and Pascal Matthew W. Maguire
Part IV. Rousseau as Educator and Legislator: 9. The measure of the possible: imagination in Rousseau's philosophical pedagogy Richard Velkley
10. Rousseau's French revolution Pamela K. Jensen
11. Rousseau's challenge to Locke (and to us) Jonathan Marks
12. Stalking Puer Robustus: Hobbes and Rousseau on the origin of human malice Susan Meld Shell
Part V. Unease, Happiness, and Death: 13. Rousseau's unease with Locke's uneasiness John T. Scott
14. Montaigne and Rousseau: some reflections Pierre Manent.

Subject Areas: Political science & theory [JPA], History of ideas [JFCX], Social & political philosophy [HPS], Western philosophy: c 1600 to c 1900 [HPCD]