The Cambridge Companion to Rousseau's Social Contract

David Lay Williams is a Professor of Political Science at DePaul University. He is the author of Rousseau's Platonic Enlightenment (2007) and Rousseau's 'Social Contract': An Introduction (CUP, 2014), as well as the co-editor of The General Will: The Evolution of a Concept (CUP, 2015). He is presently completing a book on economic inequality in the history of political thought. Matthew W. Maguire is a Professor of History and Catholic Studies at DePaul University. He is the author of The Conversion of Imagination: From Pascal through Rousseau to Tocqueville (2006) and Carnal Spirit: The Revolutions of Charles Péguy (2019), in addition to essays about diverse topics in European intellectual history. His is now writing a book about autonomy and freedom.

• 1. Introduction Matthew W. Maguire and David Lay Williams; 2. 'Every legitimate government is republican': Rousseau's debt to and departure from Montesquieu on republicanism John T. Scott; 3. What if there is no legislator? Rousseau's history of the government of Geneva Christopher Kelly; 4. Rousseau's republican citizenship: the moral psychology of the social contract Robin Douglass; 5. Rousseau's negative liberty: themes of domination and skepticism in the social contract Michael Locke McLendon; 6. Rousseau's ancient ends of legislation: liberty, equality (& fraternity) David Lay Williams; 7. Property and possession in Rousseau's social contract Rafeeq Hasan; 8. Political equality among unequals Melissa Schwartzberg; 9. On the primacy of peoplehood: nations and nationalism in Rousseau's social contract Richard Boyd; 10. Rousseau on voting and electoral laws Alexandra Oprea; 11. Rousseau and the puzzle of the Roman republic Geneviève Rousselière; 12. Rousseau's case against democracy Céline Spector; 13. Rousseau's dilemma or 'of civil religion' Steven B. Smith; 14. Entreating the political: politics and theology in Rousseau's social contract Matthew W. Maguire; 15. Civil religion and political unity: social contract 4.8 Ryan Patrick Hanley.

'An instantly indispensable guide to the Social Contract, this Cambridge Companion delves deeply into Rousseau's magnum opus to explore themes such as political psychology, civil religion, sovereignty, government, and negative versus positive liberty. Moreover, the volume investigates the Social Contract's intricate relationship with Rousseau's other works such as Émile, and his essays on political economy, Poland, Corsica, and D'Alembert. A landmark moment in Rousseau studies.' John P. McCormick, University of Chicago