Portret van Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Portret van Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Jean-Jacques Rousseau political theories were constructed off the foundation of Italian political thought. Throughout Rousseau’s historical and political writing, it is clear he is trying to present a favorable view of Machiavellian philosophy and he often tries to reconcile his own thoughts with that of Machiavelli (McKenzie 225). In Rousseau’s Social Contract he clearly references Machiavelli’s The Prince and The Discourses as a way to solve explain the role of lawgiver and how divine inspiration plays an important role (McKenzie 223). This can also be seen in Rousseau’s use of Machiavelli’s fortuna, which he uses “to expound his principles in theory”, because “he was limited in the degree to which he could estimate their practicability” (McKenzie 224). Rousseau was clearly enthralled by Machiavelli’s works, which resulted in them playing such an important in his works during the enlightenment.
The Italian influence on Rousseau helped shape his political theories, which helped him develop into such an important enlightenment philosopher. His political idea of “general will” played an important role in the foundation of enlightenment political thought, which would be the crux of the plethora of Revolutions in the late 18th century (Delaney). His ideas also provide a larger context on the understanding of the enlightenment, where “general will” is directly tied to sovereignty, which focuses on the direction of the state should lead to the well being of the citizens, which further aligns itself with enlightenment philosophy (Delaney).

Garnerey, Jean François. Portret Van Jean-Jacques Rousseau. 1791 - 1795. Rijksmuseum, Netherlands.

1791 - 1795

Jean François Garnerey

Public Domain