Jean-Jacques Rousseau Trivia Questions

This core idea in his 'Discourse on Inequality' argues that society and property create inequality and moral decay from an innocent state of nature.

They were bitter intellectual rivals; Voltaire mocked Rousseau's ideas, and Rousseau accused Voltaire of elitism. They rarely agreed.

He had a long-term relationship with Thérèse Levasseur, whom he eventually married, and they had five children, all sent to a foundling home.

His opera 'Le Devin du Village' charmed the king and was performed at Fontainebleau in 1752, though Rousseau later refused a royal pension.

His mother Suzanne Bernard died nine days after his birth in 1712, leaving Rousseau to be raised by his father and later relatives.

Published in 1762, 'Emile' was condemned for its religious views, leading to its burning and Rousseau fleeing arrest.

Though his 'Social Contract' influenced revolutionary thought, he died in 1778, over a decade before the Revolution, and many revolutionaries misused his ideas.

The term 'noble savage' was popularized by others; Rousseau never used it. He described natural humans as peaceful but not idealized savages.