Theory & Aesthetics: Rousseau

How do philosophers view, read and make sense of literary texts, works of art and other philosophers? This course aims to elucidate the key conceptual articulations and hermeneutic moves undergirding a given philosophical signature and to delineate the status of aesthetic objects in theory. It explores 2 of Rousseau's most critical texts. The Discourse on the Origin of Inequality and his Confessions to focus the articulation between modern autobiography and the development of modern political subjectivity. The philosophical and literary background of both texts will be explored in depth. Texts will be discussed in English translation, but Students can read them in French.