Jean-Jacques Rousseau was one of the most prominent European thinkers of

the 18th century who was against the Absolutist movement. His arrival to the
French capital was crucial, as he came into contact with enlightened thinkers
such as Voltaire. Rousseau was a lover of liberty and social justice and
compared the oppression, crimes and poverty in which the majority lived, with
the comfort and opulence characteristic of kings and nobility. He emphasizes
the importance of freedom and equality, and insists on the great role of
citizens and necessity of direct democracy. Furthermore, it is noteworthy that
peace was for Rousseau a permanent yearning and that he thought that man
is born free and has no reason to live in chains. For example, he believes that
the politician is not born corrupt, but that it is the system that makes him
corrupt. Therefore, in society there must be political, economic and social
pacts where freedom is a referent. The political work of Jean-Jacques
Rousseau, historically, was undoubtedly one of the most transcendental
during the Enlightenment period. In the same way, Rousseau's proposal on
human rights such as: life, vote, sovereignty, democracy and freedom, among
others, are aspects still debated in the world of political science and political
philosophy.
Rousseau started from the principle that in order to live in a more just society,
human beings must live in the state of nature. In other words, not to be
corrupted or to be an individualist, since man is good by nature and it is
society that corrupts him.