THE SOCIAL CONTRACT is one of three most influential treatises ever written (the others being Plato's REPUBLIC and Marx's DAS KAPITAL) Of the three it is safe to say that only THE SOCIAL CONTRACT is much read in its entirety today, and it continues to exert a direct influence on contemporary political thought.

In it - and in the three DISCOURCES here printed with it - Rousseau discusses the nature of liberty, human rights and the state; the origins of private property the function of education; the economic structure of society; and the relationship between individuals and the community.

This revised re-issue of G. D. H. Cole's celebrated translation, long published by Everyman, includes sections from the manuscript draft of the text and is accompanied by an extensive new introduction, chronology and bibliography prepared by Professor Alan Ryan.