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The Social Contract

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

G. D. H. Cole (1913)

Published in 1762, Jean-Jacques Rousseau's The Social Contract opens with the famous declaration that 'Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains.' In four books it seeks the principles of a legitimate political order, grounding authority not in force or divine right but in a contract by which a people collectively forms a sovereign expressing the 'general will.' Its ideas of popular sovereignty and civic freedom profoundly shaped the French Revolution and modern democratic thought.

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Contents

1. Foreword
2. Book I
   1. Chapter I
   2. Chapter II
   3. Chapter III
   4. Chapter IV
   5. Chapter V
   6. Chapter VI
   7. Chapter VII
   8. Chapter VIII
   9. Chapter IX
3. Book II
   1. Chapter I
   2. Chapter II
   3. Chapter III
   4. Chapter IV
   5. Chapter V
   6. Chapter VI
   7. Chapter VII
   8. Chapter VIII
   9. Chapter IX
   10. Chapter X
   11. Chapter XI
   12. Chapter XII
4. Book III
   1. Chapter I
   2. Chapter II
   3. Chapter III
   4. Chapter IV
   5. Chapter V
   6. Chapter VI
   7. Chapter VII
   8. Chapter VIII
   9. Chapter IX
   10. Chapter X
   11. Chapter XI
   12. Chapter XII
   13. Chapter XIII
   14. Chapter XIV
   15. Chapter XV
   16. Chapter XVI
   17. Chapter XVII
   18. Chapter XVIII
5. Book IV
   1. Chapter I
   2. Chapter II
   3. Chapter III
   4. Chapter IV
   5. Chapter V
   6. Chapter VI
   7. Chapter VII
   8. Chapter VIII
   9. Chapter IX