This book examines the philosophy of Rousseau and its contribution to
our understanding of modernity. Strong notes that Rousseau has been
associated with almost every school of thought and political movement of
Western modernity - why is it that he has been read so divergently? The
author suggests that Rousseau `gives us...our language for politics and
personhood...Rousseau is not the whole story of modernity, but he is, in
ways that others around and before him were not, modern.′