Publisher's Synopsis
JEAN-JACQUES ROUSSEAU, 1712-1778. Enlightenment philosopher whose political ideas influenced the French Revolution, the development of socialist theory, and the growth of nationalism. Rousseau also made important contributions to music both as a theorist and as a composer. With his CONFESSIONS and other writings, he practically invented modern autobiography and encouraged a new focus on the building of subjectivity that would bear fruit in the work of thinkers as diverse as Hegel and Freud.Rousseau's work is notable as one of the first major autobiographies. Prior to the Confessions, the two great autobiographies were Augustine's own Confessions and Saint Teresa's Life of Herself. However, both of these works focused on the religious experiences of their authors; the Confessions was one of the first autobiographies in which an individual wrote of his own life mainly in terms of his worldly experiences and personal feelings. Rousseau recognized the unique nature of his work; it opens with the famous words: "I have resolved on an enterprise which has no precedent and which, once complete, will have no imitator. My purpose is to display to my kind a portrait in every way true to nature, and the man I shall portray will be myself." His example was soon followed: not long after publication, many other writers (such as Goethe, Wordsworth, Stendhal, De Quincey, Casanova and Alfieri) wrote their own similarly-styled autobiographies.In this unique new edition: - "The Confessions of Jean-Jacques Rousseau" complete in 12 books from the 1903 edition, translated by S. W. Orson.- Illustrations by Maurice Leloir (1903). Annotations by G W F Hegel: "French Philosophy". Extract from "LECTURES ON THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY"?PART THREE: MODERN PHILOSOPHY.Section Two: Period of the Thinking Understanding.Chapter II. - Transition Period.C. French Philosophy: 1 Negative Aspect - 2 Positive Aspect -3 Concrete Universal
