Issue #40

Abstract: Published here is a fragment “Principles of the Law of War” (Principes du droit de la guerre) — the only known fragment of the second part of Rousseau’s “Social Contract”, discovered by Bruno Bernardi and Gabriella Silvestrini in Rousseau’s manuscripts kept in the libraries of Neuchâtel and Geneva. In this text, Rousseau distinguishes between his views and the teachings of Thomas Hobbes, discussing the nature of war, the law of war and the foundations of political community. The fragment is of particular value because, according to Rousseau’s “Confessions”, questions of war and peace were to be part of an extensive work “Political Institutions”. The translation was made from the edition: Rousseau J.-J. Principes du droit de la guerre. Paris, 2008. P. 69–81. Commentary by S. V. Zanin.