Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Jean-Jacques Rousseau (June 28, 1712-July 2, 1778) was a French philosopher of the Enlightenment, and his works influenced the French Revolution. Rousseau's literary career began with his prize-winning essay, "Discourse on the Moral Effects of the Arts and Sciences," in which he blamed these developments for causing social corruption. It remained a theme of his writings through the rest of his career. His Confessions (1782, posthumous) was the first modern autobiography.