Margins
Essay on the Origin of Languages and Writings Related to Music book cover
Essay on the Origin of Languages and Writings Related to Music
1998
First Published
4.26
Average Rating
658
Number of Pages
Jean-Jacques Rousseau the writer-philosopher was a practicing musician and theorist for years before publication of his first Discourse, but scholars have neglected these fertile, inexhaustible ideas because they were either unavailable in a critical edition or viewed as standing outside the aegis of his system of thought. This graceful translation remedies both those failings by bringing together the Essay with a comprehensive selection of the musical writings. Many of the latter are responses to authors like Rameau, Grimm, and Raynal, and a unique feature of this edition is the inclusion of writings by these authors to help establish the historical and ideological context of Rousseau's writings and the intellectual exchanges of which they are a part.
Avg Rating
4.26
Number of Ratings
19
5 STARS
42%
4 STARS
47%
3 STARS
5%
2 STARS
5%
1 STARS
0%
goodreads

Author

Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Author · 44 books

Swiss philosopher and writer Jean Jacques Rousseau held that society usually corrupts the essentially good individual; his works include The Social Contract and Émile (both 1762). This important figure in the history contributed to political and moral psychology and influenced later thinkers. Own firmly negative view saw the post-hoc rationalizers of self-interest, apologists for various forms of tyranny, as playing a role in the modern alienation from natural impulse of humanity to compassion. The concern to find a way of preserving human freedom in a world of increasingly dependence for the satisfaction of their needs dominates work. This concerns a material dimension and a more important psychological dimensions. Rousseau a fact that in the modern world, humans come to derive their very sense of self from the opinions as corrosive of freedom and destructive of authenticity. In maturity, he principally explores the first political route, aimed at constructing institutions that allow for the co-existence of equal sovereign citizens in a community; the second route to achieving and protecting freedom, a project for child development and education, fosters autonomy and avoids the development of the most destructive forms of self-interest. Rousseau thinks or the possible co-existence of humans in relations of equality and freedom despite his consistent and overwhelming pessimism that humanity will escape from a dystopia of alienation, oppression, and unfreedom. In addition to contributions, Rousseau acted as a composer, a music theorist, the pioneer of modern autobiography, a novelist, and a botanist. Appreciation of the wonders of nature and his stress on the importance of emotion made Rousseau an influence on and anticipator of the romantic movement. To a very large extent, the interests and concerns that mark his work also inform these other activities, and contributions of Rousseau in ostensibly other fields often serve to illuminate his commitments and arguments.

548 Market St PMB 65688, San Francisco California 94104-5401 USA
© 2025 Paratext Inc. All rights reserved