Jean-Jacques Rousseau | Man is Born Free, But Everywhere He is in Chains

“Man is born free; but everywhere he is in chains.” In this lecture, we examine the ideas of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, one of the most influential political philosophers of the Enlightenment. The lecture looks at his understanding of freedom, society, inequality, and the relationship between the individual and the State, with particular attention to his ideas in The Social Contract. The lecture attempts to understand Rousseau’s ideas and their continuing relevance to questions of law, liberty and political society.