Last chapter on civil religion is pure genius. A pleasure to read in general. Regardless of the ambiguities and, sometimes, contradictions, Rousseau put forward his ideas and their structures very clearly. All themes for him seem to revolve around a certain kind of proportion. ( )

Cress, Donald A. (Translator)

Totally divorced from reality. ( )

Rousseau is interesting, and I'd like to say I understand him thoroughly, but to me there *does* seem to be a contradiction between the love of liberty of "Discourse on the Origin of Inequality" and his view of the ideal government in "The Social Contract". Which latter work is, by the way, quite difficult especially after part two. Despite Wollstonecraft's calling him an optimist, one doesn't quite see that in this book. He seems to think so many things can go wrong in the constitution of a nation. I am left with ambivalent feelings about him, however I like his writing style. ( )