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The Social Contract · Chapters

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Chapter companions for The Social Contract by Jean-Jacques Rousseau.

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  1. Chapter 1

    Epigraph

    The chapter opens with an epigraph from Virgil's Aeneid XI, calling for the establishment of equal laws within a compact.

  2. Chapter 2

    The Social Contract

    Rousseau introduces the foundational problem of political right: man is born free but is everywhere in chains. He argues that no natural authority exists except that which is established by convention, and he sets out to discover the principles of legitimate political authority through the social contract.

  3. Chapter 3

    Book I

    Rousseau introduces his inquiry into the legitimate rule of administration in the civil order, aiming to unite justice and utility. He explains his motivation as a citizen of a free state and a member of the Sovereign, asserting his duty to study public affairs.

  4. Chapter 4

    Subject of the First Book

    Rousseau opens by declaring that man is born free but is everywhere in chains, questioning how this change occurred and seeking to legitimize the social order. He argues that the social order is a sacred right founded on conventions, not nature, and sets out to prove this assertion.

  5. Chapter 5

    II: The First Societies

    Rousseau examines the family as the most ancient and natural society, arguing that it serves as the first model for political societies. He critiques Grotius, Hobbes, and Aristotle for justifying slavery and tyranny, asserting that natural liberty and equality are fundamental to human nature.

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  1. Chapter 6III: The Right of the Strongest
  2. Chapter 7Slavery
  3. Chapter 8V: That We Must Always Go Back to a First Convention
  4. Chapter 9The Social Compact
  5. Chapter 10VII: The Sovereign
  6. Chapter 11VIII: The Civil State
  7. Chapter 12Real Property
  8. Chapter 13Book II
  9. Chapter 14I: That Sovereignty Is Inalienable
  10. Chapter 15II: That Sovereignty Is Indivisible
  11. Chapter 16Whether the General Will Is Fallible
  12. Chapter 17IV: The Limits of the Sovereign Power
  13. Chapter 18The Right of Life and Death
  14. Chapter 19VI: Law
  15. Chapter 20The Legislator
  16. Chapter 21The People
  17. Chapter 22IX: The People (Continued)
  18. Chapter 23X: The People (Continued)
  19. Chapter 24XI: The Various Systems of Legislation
  20. Chapter 25XII: The Division of the Laws
  21. Chapter 26Book III
  22. Chapter 27Government in General
  23. Chapter 28II: The Constituent Principle in the Various Forms of Government
  24. Chapter 29III: The Division of Governments
  25. Chapter 30IV: Democracy
  26. Chapter 31V: Aristocracy
  27. Chapter 32Monarchy
  28. Chapter 33Mixed Governments
  29. Chapter 34That All Forms of Government Do Not Suit All Countries
  30. Chapter 35IX: The Marks of a Good Government
  31. Chapter 36X: The Abuse of Government and Its Tendency to Degenerate
  32. Chapter 37XI: The Death of the Body Politic
  33. Chapter 38XII: How the Sovereign Authority Maintains Itself
  34. Chapter 39XIII: The Same (Continued)
  35. Chapter 40XIV: The Same (Continued)
  36. Chapter 41Deputies or Representatives
  37. Chapter 42XVI: That the Institution of Government Is Not a Contract
  38. Chapter 43XVII: The Institution of Government
  39. Chapter 44How to Check the Usurpations of Government
  40. Chapter 45Book IV
  41. Chapter 46I: That the General Will Is Indestructible
  42. Chapter 47II: Voting
  43. Chapter 48Elections
  44. Chapter 49IV: The Roman Comitia
  45. Chapter 50V: The Tribunate
  46. Chapter 51The Dictatorship
  47. Chapter 52VII: The Censorship
  48. Chapter 53Civil Religion
  49. Chapter 54IX: Conclusion
  50. Chapter 55Endnotes