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HELENA ROSENBLATT, Rousseau and Geneva: From the First Discourse to the Social Contract, 1749-1762. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997. Pp. x + 298. $59.95.
Helena Rosenblatt's Rousseau and Geneva is an important contribution to the substantial list of works on Rousseau's political thought. The author's primary objective is to analyze Rousseau's political theories from the years 1749 to 1762 in the light of Geneva's unique cultural, religious, and political climate. While most Rousseau scholars have placed him in the context of French rather than Genevan society, Rosenblatt asserts that Rousseau's major political treatises were more intricately intertwined with issues debated in Geneva than in France. She admits that she is not the first author to emphasize the Genevan context of Rousseau's writings, but she does seek to dispel the idea that Rousseau was not well informed about the Genevan constitution. Genevan political life served as the framework for Rousseau's construction of his own political theories. This influence was also a factor in Rousseau's break with many of the philosophes.
The author outlines the Genevan political and religious climate, which even by the mid-eighteenth century was still strongly influenced by its Calvinist tradition. However, by the era of the Enlightenment, the Genevan theologians had moved far from the traditional Reformed theology of Calvin. They continued to give lip service to the heritage of Calvin, but emphasized the moral aspects of theology and avoided discussions of controversial doctrines such as predestination. Their objective was to produce a reasonable faith that even the philosophes would not find offensive. Furthermore, the'Genevan...