1
of
1
Rousseau: The Basic Political Writings
Discourse on the Sciences and the Arts, Discourse on the Origin of Inequality, Discourse on Political Economy, On the Social Contract, The State of War
Series: Hackett Classics
Ratings/reviews counts are updated frequently.
Check link for latest rating. ( 5,511 ratings, 72 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still
learning, it may not be perfect - your
feedback is welcome!
Summary
Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
TEMPORARILY OUT OF STOCK
Please add to wishlist to be notified when back in stock
Sorry, we're currently out of stock of Rousseau: The Basic Political Writings. Please add to your Wishlist and we'll send you an email as soon as it's back in stock.
Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?
Latest News
A Little Bit Spooky: Board Games for Halloween
Halloween is the perfect excuse for a spooky board game night! From adorable ghost cats...
100 Years of Winnie the Pooh
100 years ago the Hundred Acre Wood and a cast of beloved friends was published...
The Book Briefing - 14/10/2026
It's time for another edition of 'The Book Briefing'! Sacha's back with all the latest...
TV Show Review on: Carrie
Liam's Review Carrie 26’Carrie has been on my radar for a while now, probably my...
The Struggle of Working Somewhere That Sells Beautiful Books
The problem is…I work in the cutest little (I said what I said) bookshop and...
See moreThis substantially revised new edition of Rousseau: The Basic Political Writings
Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and
still learning, it may not be perfect - your
feedback is welcome!
Description
This substantially revised new edition of Rousseau: The Basic Political Writings features a brilliant new introduction by David Wootton. It includes a revision by Donald A. Cress of his own 1987 translation of Rousseau's most important political writings, as well as the addition of Cress' new translation of Rousseau's State of War.
New footnotes, headnotes, and a chronology by David Wootton provide expert guidance to first-time readers of the texts.
Series: Hackett Classics
View all-
Plato: Five Dialogues
The second edition of Five Dialogues presents G. M. A. Grube's distinguished translations, as revised by John Cooper for Plato, Complete Works. A number of new or expanded footnotes are also included along with an updated bibliography.Paperback$3499Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
Second Treatise of Government
The Second Treatise of Government is one of the most important political treatises ever written and one of the most far-reaching in its influence. In his provocative 15-page introduction to this edition, the late eminent political theorist C. B. Macpherson examines Locke's arguments for limited, conditional government, private property, and the right of revolution. He also suggests reasons for the...Paperback$1699Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
Republic
Since its publication in 1974, scholars throughout the humanities have adopted G M A Grube's masterful translation of Republic as the edition of choice for their study and teaching of Plato's most influential work. In this brilliant revision, C D C Reeve furthers Grube's success both in preserving the subtlety of Plato's philosophical argument and in rendering the dialogue in...Paperback$1699Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
The Trials of Socrates
This unique and expertly annotated collection of the classic accounts of Socrates left by Plato, Aristophanes, and Xenophon features new translations of Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, and the death scene from Phaedo by C. D. C. Reeve, Peter Meineck's translation of Clouds, and James Doyle's translation of Apology of Socrates.Paperback$2499Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
Tao Te Ching
Deftly introduced and enriched by the remarkable ink paintings of Stephen Addiss, this new translation of Tao Te Ching captures the terse and enigmatic beauty of the ancient original while resisting the tendency toward interpretive paraphrase found in many other editions. Along with the translation of the complete work, Lombardo and Addiss provide the reader with a measure of interaction...Paperback$1799Unit price /UnavailableBackorderShips late October -
Histories
This volume includes a wealth of helpful footnotes; more than a dozen maps and illustrations; a chronology of the Archaic Age; a glossary of main characters, places, and terms; suggested further reading; and an index of proper nouns. Histories edition reproduces the fluent pace and readability of Herodotus' world-encompassing work. Mensch has produced a close translation of Herodotus' Greek that...Paperback$3499Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
The True History of The Conquest of New Spain
This rugged new translation—the first entirely new English translation in half a century and the only one based on the most recent critical edition of the Guatemalan manuscript—allows Díaz to recount, in his own battle-weary and often cynical voice, the achievements, stratagems, and frequent cruelty of Hernán Cortés and his men as they set out to overthrow Moctezuma's Aztec kingdom...Paperback$2999Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
Republic
Republic offers readers more than just a seminal philosophical text; it is accompanied by a variety of helpful tools for a deeper understanding. This edition includes a select bibliography for further reading and research. Additionally, it provides a synopsis of each book within Republic, allowing readers to grasp the core ideas and themes at a glance. To aid in comprehending...Paperback$3499Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
Satyricon
This new Satyricon features not only a lively, new, annotated translation of the text, but also fresh, and accessible commentaries that discuss Petronius' masterpiece in terms of such topics as the identity of Petronius, the transmission of his manuscript, literary influences on the Satyricon, and the distinctive literary form of this work. Additionally, it explores hallmarks of Roman life such...Paperback$2499Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
Aristotle: Introductory Readings
Drawn from the translations and editorial aids of Irwin and Fine's Aristotle, Selections, this anthology will be most useful to instructors who must try to do justice to Aristotle in a semester-long ancient philosophy survey. It is also appropriate for a variety of introductory-level courses. This book provides accurate, readable, and integrated translations that allow the reader to follow Aristotle's...Paperback$2799Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
The Classical Utilitarians
This volume includes the complete texts of two of John Stuart Mill's most important works, Utilitarianism and On Liberty, and selections from his other writings, including the complete text of his Remarks on Bentham's Philosophy. The selection from Mill's A System of Logic is of special relevance to the debate between those who read Mill as an Act-Utilitarian and those...Paperback$2999Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
Against the Academicians and The Teacher
These new translations of two treatises dealing with the possibility and nature of knowledge in the face of sceptical challenges are the first to be rendered from the Latin critical edition. They are the first translations made specifically with a philosophical audience in mind and the first to be translated by a scholar with expertise in both modern epistemology and...Paperback$2999Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9781603846738
Publisher: Hackett Publishing Co, Inc
Format: Paperback / softback
Date Published: 15 June 2012
Country: United States
Imprint: Hackett Publishing Co, Inc
Edition: Second Edition,2
Illustration: none
Contributors:
- Edited and translated by Donald A. Cress
- Introduction by David Wootton
Audience: Tertiary education
DIMENSIONS
Width: 152.0mm
Height: 228.0mm
Weight: 226g
Pages: 320
About the Author
Donald A. Cress is Professor Emeritus of Philosophy, University of ?Wisconsin, Parkside. His translations of Descartes' Meditations on First Philosophy and Discourse on Method are also published by Hackett.
David Wootton is Anniversary Professor of History, University of ?York. His translations of Machiavelli: Selected Political Writings, More's Utopia, and Voltaire's Candide--as well as his Divine Right and Democracy: An Anthology of Political Writings in Stuart England, his edition of Locke: Political Writings, and his Essential Federalist and Anti-Federalist Papers--are also available from Hackett.
Also by Jean-Jacques Rousseau
View all-
The Social Contract
The Social Contract by Jean-Jacques Rousseau is a seminal work that delves into the fundamental principles of political right and social organization. This thought-provoking book starts with the powerful declaration, "Man was born free, and he is everywhere in chains," setting the stage for an exploration of the tension between individual liberty and societal obligations. In an era marked by...Paperback$2300Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
The Body Politic
46 new books in the bestselling Little Black Classics series, to celebrate the first ever Penguin Classic in 1946. The Body Politic explores the provocative statement: No true Democracy has ever existed, nor ever will exist.Paperback$900Elsewhere:$999Unit price /UnavailableBackorderShips early November -
17% offThe Confessions
Rousseau's autobiography provides a unique insight into the mind and life of one of the greatest thinkers of the Enlightenment. Widely regarded as the first modern autobiography, The Confessions is an astonishing work of acute psychological insight. Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-78) argued passionately against the inequality he believed to be intrinsic to civilised society. In his Confessions, he relives the first...Paperback$2000Elsewhere:$2600Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
A Discourse on Inequality
In this text, Rousseau demonstrates how the growth of civilisation corrupts man's natural happiness and freedom due to the artificial inequalities of wealth and social privilege. Contending that primitive man was equal to civilised man, he believed that as societies become more sophisticated, the strongest and most intelligent members gained an unnatural advantage over the weaker. He also argued that...Paperback$2400Elsewhere:$2600Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
Reveries of the Solitary Walker
Rousseau's final work and meditation After a period of forced exile and solitary wandering brought about by his radical views on religion and politics, Jean-Jacques Rousseau returned to Paris in 1770. Here, in the last two years of his life, he wrote his final work, the Reveries. In this eloquent masterpiece, the great political thinker describes his sense of isolation...Paperback$2400Elsewhere:$2600Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
Of The Social Contract and Other Political Writings
Since its first publication in 1762, Of the Social Contract has shaped political thinking. Viewed by some as a revolutionary statement of democratic freedoms and by others as a precursor of tyranny, it has guided and inspired activists from the. 'Man was born free, and everywhere he is in chains.' These are the famous opening words of a treatise that...Paperback$3000Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
The Social Contract and The First and Second Discourses
Jean-Jacques Rousseau's ideas about society, culture, and government are pivotal in the history of political thought. His works are as controversial as they are relevant today. This volume brings together three of Rousseau's most important political writings: The Social Contract and The First Discourse (Discourse on the Sciences and Arts) and The Second Discourse (Discourse on the Origin and Foundations...Paperback$3799Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 3-4 weeks -
The Major Political Writings of Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Individualist and communitarian. Anarchist and totalitarian. Classicist and romanticist. Progressive and reactionary. Since the eighteenth century, Jean-Jacques Rousseau has been said to be all of these things. Few philosophers have been the subject of as much or as intense debate, yet almost everyone agrees that Rousseau is among the most important and influential thinkers in the history of political philosophy....Paperback$4399Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 3-4 weeks -
Discourse on Political Economy and The Social Contract
Discourse on Political Economy and The Social Contract by Jean-Jacques Rousseau offers a profound exploration of human society and governance. Rousseau delves into the intricate dynamics of political thought and the essence of collective agreement through his seminal works. The Discourse on Political Economy provides insights into the role of government in protecting liberty and exploring economic structures within society....Paperback$3700Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 2-3 weeks -
On the Social Contract
This new edition features a revision by Donald A. Cress of his bestselling 1987 translation of On the Social Contract, together with an introduction, footnotes, and chronology by David Wootton, one of our leading historians of the Enlightenment.Paperback$1899Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
Discourse on the Origin of Inequality
The Norton Library edition of Rousseau's Discourse on the Origin of Inequality features an inviting and readable translation by Julia Conaway Bondanella that makes the text accessible to the modern English reader while faithfully preserving the power and clarity of Rousseau's voice and style of argumentation. A thorough introduction by Frederick Neuhouser—"one of the most brilliant philosophical readers of Rousseau...PaperbackSold Out -
The Reveries of the Solitary Walker
First published posthumously in 1782 from an unfinished manuscript, The Reveries of the Solitary Walker continues Rousseau's exploration of the soul in the form of a final meditation on self-understanding and isolation. This accurate and graceful translation by Charles Butterworth—the only English version based on Rousseau's original text—is accompanied by an interpretive essay, extensive notes, and a comprehensive index.PaperbackSold Out
More from Politics & Current Affairs
View all-
In the Room
'Every Prime Minister needs someone who will challenge them - and that was you.' So said Jacinda Ardern to Andrew Campbell on his final day as her Chief Press Secretary. Now, for the first time, Campbell offers a revealing insider's account of one of New Zealand's most extraordinary political eras. Serving alongside Ardern for almost her entire time in office,...Paperback$3199Elsewhere:$3799Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
One Last Question, Prime Minister
From Muldoon to Luxon, untold stories from the House of Parliament Barry Soper has spent close to five decades questioning New Zealand's prime ministers.From the imposing, larger-than-life characters of Rob Muldoon and David Lange, to the golden age of Helen Clark and John Key, and the post-Covid era of Jacinda Ardern and the 'Chrises', Soper's insight and nose for a...Paperback$3199Elsewhere:$3999Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
New ReleaseFacing Up to Our Future
New Zealand's traditional “she'll be right” optimism is no longer adequate to the challenges facing the country. Facing Up to Our Future: Challenges and Choices for New Zealand brings together 21 of the country's leading thinkers to confront the long-term pressures shaping the nation's next decades. Edited by Emeritus Professor Peter Davis, the collection ranges widely, covering issues as diverse as...Paperback$3299Elsewhere:$3500Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
Signed CopyUncomfortable Economics
New Zealand once ranked among the world’s most prosperous nations. Not any longer. Why has our economic performance lagged behind countries we once outpaced? And what will it take to reverse the decline? In Uncomfortable Economics, David Schnauer shows that New Zealand’s underperformance is not inevitable. It is the result of choices — cultural and political — that can be...Paperback$3799Elsewhere:$4000Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
Regime Change
From the two reporters who have covered him more closely than perhaps anyone else over the past decade comes this definitive portrait of Donald Trump in the White House and the first year of his second presidency. Based on hundreds of interviews and unprecedented reporting from deep within the administration’s most closely guarded rooms, Regime Change takes the reader into...Paperback$3299Elsewhere:$4299Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
New ReleaseA Different Kind of Power
#1 New Zealand bestseller #1 Amazon bestseller #2 Audible bestseller #3 New York Times bestseller #3 Sunday Times bestseller #4 Australian bestseller From the former prime minister of New Zealand, then the world’s youngest female head of government and just the second to give birth in office, comes a deeply personal memoir chronicling her extraordinary rise and offering inspiration to...Paperback$3200Elsewhere:$4000Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
Ockham WinnerA Different Kind of Power
What if we could redefine leadership? What if kindness came first? Jacinda Ardern grew up the daughter of a police officer in small-town New Zealand, but as the 40th Prime Minister of her country, she commanded global respect for her empathetic leadership that put people first. This is the remarkable story of how a Mormon girl plagued by self-doubt made...Hardback$4799Elsewhere:$5999Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
New ReleaseDirty Work
Twelve years after they were exposed and discredited in the book Dirty Politics, some of the most cynical people in New Zealand politics are back. The epitome is Jordan Williams, with his abysmal attitudes to women, morality-free fundraising as a lobbyist for the tobacco industry and – worst and most destructive in New Zealand’s recent history – him and his...Paperback$3299Elsewhere:$3499Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
Suicidal Empathy
The bestselling author of The Parasitic Mind shows why empathy in politics leads to civilizational collapse. What happens when a society elevates victimhood to a virtue and decides that punishment is cruel? You get the disease Dr. Gad Saad calls suicidal empathy. And the West may be terminally infected. In his new book, Suicidal Empathy, Saad unleashes a blistering critique...Paperback$3099Elsewhere:$3799Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
New ReleaseGo Hard or Go Home
From the front bench to rock bottom: Go Hard or Go Home is Kiri Allan's fearless memoir of ambition, disruption and survival in NZ politics and beyond. Kiri Allan's six-year political career spanned some of the most challenging times in recent history. Events a government might encounter once in a generation stacked up: a terrorist attack, a volcanic eruption, destructive and deadly...Paperback$3199Elsewhere:$4000Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
The Day After: How to Wield Power in a Post-Trump World
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Shameless, Brian Tyler Cohen explores how Republicans have abused power, how Democrats have refused to exercise power when they held it, and how progressives should wield power if they are fortunate enough to win a free and fair election in a post-Trump world. The Day After: How to Wield Power in...Paperback$3099Elsewhere:$3799Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
New ReleaseThe Cauldron
How did an elderly cleric overthrow the Shah of Iran and change the world?Why did Bin Laden attack the USA - and why did the USA destroy Saddam?How did Britain and France carve up the Middle East - and why did the Kurds never get their own state? THE ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO THE MAKING OF TODAY'S MIDDLE EAST: A SPELLBINDING...Hardback$4999Elsewhere:$6000Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today
Why buy from us?
Book Hero is not a chain store or big box retailer. We're an independent 100% NZ-owned business on a mission to help more Kiwis rediscover a love of books and reading!
Service & Delivery
Our warehouse in Auckland holds over 100,000 books, toys, board games and puzzles in-stock so you're not waiting for your order to arrive from overseas.
Auckland Bookstore
We're primarily an online store, but for your convenience you can pick up your order for free from our bookstore, which is right next door to our warehouse in Hobsonville.
Our Gifting Service
Books make wonderful thoughtful gifts and we're here to help with gift-wrapping and cards. We can even send your gift directly to your loved one.
Politics & Current Affairs lists from the team
Explore our curated lists from our heroes to find your next read!
-
![]()
![]()
![]()
Lizzy's listPolitics & Current Affairs
2026 Longlist for The Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction
Celebrating the best of non-fiction writing, here are all 13 books on the longlist for 2026.View the list -
![]()
![Lucky You're Tough]()
![]()
Dylan's listPolitics & Current Affairs
Reading Before Voting
As we head towards New Zealand's general election on 7 November 2026, here are some books that explore many of the issues...View the list
