Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Question 1

What year was Jean-Jacques Rousseau born?

Answer 1

1712

Question 2

Where was Rousseau born?

Answer 2

Geneva, Switzerland

Question 3

What was Rousseau’s most famous political work?

Answer 3

The Social Contract

Question 4

What educational treatise did Rousseau write?

Answer 4

Émile, or On Education

Question 5

Rousseau’s ‘The Social Contract’ laid the foundation for what modern concept?

Answer 5

Democracy and popular sovereignty

Question 6

According to Rousseau, what corrupts human beings?

Answer 6

Society

Question 7

In which work did Rousseau discuss natural and societal inequality?

Answer 7

Discourse on the Origin and Basis of Inequality Among Men

Question 8

Which intellectual movement was Rousseau a part of, but also critiqued?

Answer 8

The Enlightenment

Question 9

Rousseau’s emphasis on emotion and nature influenced which later movement?

Answer 9

Romanticism

Question 10

What personal work did Rousseau write that is considered one of the first modern autobiographies?

Answer 10

Confessions

Question 11

Rousseau’s ideas contributed to which major historical event in France?

Answer 11

The French Revolution

Question 12

How did Rousseau influence modern education?

Answer 12

By emphasizing child-centered, naturalistic education

Question 13

What is Rousseau’s main argument in ‘The Social Contract’?

Answer 13

Government should be based on the general will of the people

Question 14

Which work of Rousseau was banned in both France and Geneva?

Answer 14

Émile, or On Education

Question 15

Rousseau had a contentious relationship with which Enlightenment thinkers?

Answer 15

Voltaire and Diderot

Question 16

Despite his educational theories, what controversial action did Rousseau take with his own children?

Answer 16

He placed all five of them in orphanages

Question 17

What condition affected Rousseau in his later years?

Answer 17

Paranoia

Question 18

Which musical contribution did Rousseau make?

Answer 18

He composed operas and contributed to music theory

Question 19

What influence did Rousseau’s ideas have on political thought?

Answer 19

They laid the foundation for modern democratic theory

Question 20

Which of Rousseau’s works criticized societal inequality?

Answer 20

Discourse on the Origin and Basis of Inequality Among Men

Question 21

Rousseau’s ideas on education influenced which future educational thinkers?

Answer 21

Maria Montessori and John Dewey

Question 22

What was one of Rousseau’s lesser-known passions?

Answer 22

His love for nature and long walks

Question 23

Why is Rousseau’s ‘Confessions’ significant in literary history?

Answer 23

It pioneered the modern style of autobiography that explores personal feelings and emotions

Question 24

What interesting fact about Rousseau’s thinking habits is often mentioned?

Answer 24

He claimed to think best while not wearing any clothes

Question 25

In what year did Rousseau die?

Answer 25

1778