AUDIO BOOK

Rousseau judge of J.-J.

(1782)

In 1771, the private readings of  confessions  that Rousseau has engaged come up against the incomprehension and prohibition of the chief of police Sartine. The bankruptcy of  confessions  gives way to another form of apology which are these Dialogues which are still based on psychological analysis, but above all now on judicial rhetoric. The author presents his project in a foreword, entitled: "On the subject and the form of this writing": "The form of the dialogue having seemed to me the most suitable for discussing the pros and cons, I chosen for this reason. He then explains that he will be represented by two characters: on the one hand, the one who will speak under his family name: "Rousseau", on the other, the one who is in question in public opinion: "Jean-Jacques" ( JJ in the text), which will be the subject of a controversy of "Rousseau" with a third character: "the Frenchman", supposed to defend the cause of the adversaries of the author. This conversational device opens a dialectical space by distinguishing the authentic Rousseau from his counterfeit fabricated by his enemies. *