The General Will Before Rousseau: The Transformation of the Divine Into the Civic (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780691606415)

Patrick Riley traces the forgotten roots of Rousseau's concept to seventeenth-century questions about the justice of God. If He wills that all men be saved, does He have a general will that produces universal salvation? And, if He does not, why does He will particularly" that some men be damned? The theological origin of the "general will" was important to Rousseau himself. He uses the language of divinity bequeathed to him by Pascal, Malebranche, Fenelon, and others to dignify, to elevate, and to "save" politics.

Originally published in 1986.

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Author: Patrick Riley
ISBN-10: 0691606412
ISBN-13: 9780691606415
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Language: English
Published: 07/14/2014
Pages: 294
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.91lbs
Size: 9.21h x 6.14w x 0.62d