Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book shows that Jean-Jacques Rousseau wrote his own Confessions with the aim of providing a radical alternative to the understanding of Original Sin presented in Augustine’s Confessions by means of analysis of parallel passages. It discusses the relation between Rousseau’s republicanism and that of Machiavelli, a thinker who – like Rousseau – appeals to ancient republicanism while transforming it. The book identifies crucial differences in the two thinkers’ shared analysis of the ambivalence contained in the idea of self-love. It argues that on educational issues, both insist on the importance of non-rational persuasion as a supplement to rational demonstration. The book aims to compares Rousseau and Adam Smith on sincerity and authenticity. At first glance, one might think Smith would be comfortable with a degree of social role-playing to which Rousseau would object in the name of personal authenticity.