A study on Jean Jacques Rousseau's understanding of people and society

This thesis includes a detailed examination of the human understanding of the French philosopher Jean Jacques Rousseau and his understanding of society, which was influential with his ideas in the 18th century and beyond. In his works, he expresses with the contradictions that occur with social life the human self which he sees as good and merciful as of his natural structure. By taking people on the basis of emotions, Rousseau, argued that the advancement of reason disrupts morally human structure. Thus, instead of Rationalism of the Enlightenment period, he was among the pioneers of Romanticism movement. İn 1749, Rousseau, in a contest with topic "Science and Art has a Positive Effect on Morality?" organized by a Dijon Academy, unlike everyone who participated, in contest, his claim that civilization and community life has attracted attention with the outbreak of human nature. Later in 1754, in the competition of the same academy titled What is the Origin of Inequality between People and Is This a Necessity of Laws of Nature? He focus to a research of human nature and claimed that the formation of society is negative. But because the socialized man has'nt chanced of returning, the rest is to design the best social order. Thus, Rousseau designed the order of human nature with the name of "Social Contract". His aim is a free and egalitarian society in accordance with human nature. He wanted to accomplish this by building a society. In the methodology of this thesis, all the works of the philosopher and the letters he wrote to his contemporaries were read and examined one by one, and then the related sources and articles were used. Subsequently, the ideas about the ideas of the philosopher were put into writing and the study was concluded. Keywords: citizen, democracy, equality, freedom, human, individual, justice, nature, politics, Rousseau, self, state