<P> The Social Contract outlines the basis for a legitimate political order within a framework of classical republicanism . Published in 1762 , it became one of the most influential works of political philosophy in the Western tradition . It developed some of the ideas mentioned in an earlier work , the article Économie Politique ( Discourse on Political Economy ) , featured in Diderot 's Encyclopédie . The treatise begins with the dramatic opening lines , `` Man is born free , and everywhere he is in chains . Those who think themselves the masters of others are indeed greater slaves than they . '' </P>
<P> The Social Contract outlines the basis for a legitimate political order within a framework of classical republicanism . Published in 1762 , it became one of the most influential works of political philosophy in the Western tradition . It developed some of the ideas mentioned in an earlier work , the article Économie Politique ( Discourse on Political Economy ) , featured in Diderot 's Encyclopédie . The treatise begins with the dramatic opening lines , `` Man is born free , and everywhere he is in chains . Those who think themselves the masters of others are indeed greater slaves than they . '' </P>
one of rousseau 's important writing on political philosophy
one of rousseau 's important writing on political philosophy
The Social Contract
The Social Contract