Frederick Watkins’ 1953 edition of Rousseau’s Political Writings has long been noted for being fully accurate while representing much of Rousseau’s eloquence and elegance. It contains what is widely regarded as the finest English translation of The Social Contract, Rousseau’s greatest political treatise. In addition, this edition offers the best available translation of the late and important Government of Poland and the only published English translation of the fragment Constitutional Project for Corsica, which, says Watkins, provides the clearest possible demonstration of the practical implications of Rousseau’s political thought.

Jean Jacques Rousseau, an eighteenth-century French philosopher, authored an extensive array of essays examining the effects that studying the arts and sciences had upon modern society, in addition to many political discourses. Frederick Watkins, a Rousseau scholar, was professor of political science at Yale University. Watkins served as president of The American Society for Political and Legal Philosophy (ASPLP). He is author of other works, including Hume: Theory of Politics.