The role of solitude in Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s moral, educational, political and autobiographical works

Abstract

The aim of this dissertation is to investigate the influence of a philosopher’s background to his/her philosophical ideas, taking Jean-Jacques Rousseau as a focal point. It will begin by exploring some of the different views on the nature of the self and how these perspectives impact autobiographical writing. The dissertation will then move on to examine Rousseau’s concept of solitude as it runs throughout his works on education and politics and his Discourse on Inequality, his Emile, and The Social Contract will be taken as the main texts. Finally his use of the concept itself will be studied through an autobiographical lens, taking his Reveries of the Solitary Walker.