Rousseau, Jean Jacques Paintings

Jean-Jacques Rousseau was a Geneva-born philosopher, writer, and composer of the 18th century. His political philosophy influenced the Enlightenment across Europe, as well as aspects of the French Revolution and the development of modern political, economic, and educational thought. His novel 'Émile: or, On Education' is a seminal treatise on the education of the whole person for citizenship. His 'Confessions', 'Reveries of a Solitary Walker', and other writings, are early precursors to modern autobiography and the Romantic movement.

Rousseau was born on June 28, 1712, in Geneva, which was at the time a city-state and a Protestant associate of the Swiss Confederacy. His mother died shortly after his birth, and his father, a watchmaker, left him in the care of an uncle. Rousseau's education was sporadic, but he developed a passion for reading and music. At the age of sixteen, he left Geneva and wandered through France and Italy, taking various jobs and studying music along the way.

In 1742, Rousseau moved to Paris, where he met Denis Diderot and became involved with intellectual circles. His 1750 'Discourse on the Arts and Sciences', claiming that the advancement of the arts and sciences had corrupted virtues, won him significant fame. Rousseau continued to explore his philosophy in subsequent works, such as 'Discourse on the Origin and Basis of Inequality Among Men' (1755) and 'The Social Contract' (1762), where he introduced the concept of the general will, a form of collective sovereignty that influences the state's governance.

Rousseau's thoughts on education, expounded in 'Émile', presented revolutionary ideas on how to educate children. Unlike the common educational practices of the time, Rousseau emphasized the importance of the individual's natural growth and the development of their character over the rote acquisition of knowledge.

His personal life, however, was marked by strife and controversy. Rousseau often felt persecuted by authorities and even by friends, and his relationships, including that with his longtime companion Thérèse Levasseur, were tumultuous. Rousseau fathered five children with Levasseur, all of whom were given to foundling homes, a fact that later critics have found at odds with his writings on education and the family.

Rousseau's health declined in the late 1760s, and he died on July 2, 1778, in Ermenonville, France. Despite the controversies surrounding his life and his complex personality, Rousseau's work remains pivotal in the history of political and educational thought. His legacy is one of a man who questioned the foundations of civilization and sought to understand the nature and potential of humanity.