Abstract

Of all modern political philosophers, Rousseau is one most given to interpretations widely divergent and often contradictory. A romanticist, an intellectualist, an individualist, a collectivist, a Platonist, a fascist—these are some of the terms loosely attributed to his cast of mind. Ever-new interpretations are welcome. Two new volumes on his political philosophy have appeared within a recent period—both scholarly, penetrating, challenging, and novel. Between them they make for a fresh dialogue: Stephen Ellenburg’s, which in emphasizing the will embodies an Augustinian spirit; and Ramon Lemos', which in emphasizing a more intellectual facet of Rousseau’s philosophy reflects a more Thomistic approach. A reader of the two may not arrive at the truth of Rousseau, yet he cannot but be impressed by the depth and pertinency of this philosophy in its conception of human nature, morality, politics, and perhaps even human destiny.