Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

Preview

£0.00 for first 30 days

Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

The Social Contract

By: Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Narrated by: Neville Jason
Try for £0.00

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £17.99

Buy Now for £17.99

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Summary

Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains. In The Social Contract, Rousseau explores the concept of freedom and the political structures that may enable people to acquire it. He argues that the sovereign power of a state lies not in any one ruler but in the will of the general population. Rousseau argues that the ideal state would be a direct democracy where executive decision making is carried out by citizens who meet in assembly, as they would in the ancient city-state of Athens. The thoughts contained in the work were instrumental to the advent of the American Revolution and became sacred to those leading the French Revolution.

With traces of Aristotle and echoes of Plato's Republic, The Social Contract is an exhilarating look at society and the definition of democracy.

New translation by Ian Johnston.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your My Library section along with the audio.

Public Domain (P)2015 Naxos AudioBooks
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Listeners also enjoyed...

Utilitarianism/On Liberty cover art
Leviathan cover art
The Prince cover art
The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money cover art
The Aeneid cover art
Nullification cover art
Politics cover art
The Ethics of Aristotle cover art
The Spirit of the Laws cover art
Rights of Man cover art
An Essay Concerning Human Understanding cover art
The Philosopher's Toolkit: How to Be the Most Rational Person in Any Room cover art
The Creation of the American Republic, 1776-1787 cover art
Rerum Novarum cover art
The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution cover art
Rediscovering Americanism cover art

What listeners say about The Social Contract

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    12
  • 4 Stars
    11
  • 3 Stars
    3
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    13
  • 4 Stars
    7
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    12
  • 4 Stars
    4
  • 3 Stars
    5
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.