Debate: Voltaire or Jean-Jacques Rousseau

[SunTzu123]

Whose views during the Enlightenment on government have had a greater impact on the world: Voltaire or Jean-Jacques Rousseau?

[abracax]

Rousseau was about education and a music theorist while Voltaire was political. This is yet another political discussion.

[SunTzu123]

its historical both had views on government

[Conrad_Jalowski]

I voted for the Franco-Swiss philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau.

The Enlightenment philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau wrote works in the field of political and social theory [The Discourses on the Arts and Sciences, A Discourse on Inequality, The Social Contract], autobiographical accounts [Confessions, The Discourses, Reveries of the Solitary Walker], an educational treatise [Emile], an epistolary novel [Julie or, the New Heloise] and smaller works and essays on musical notations and botany.

Here is the link to my online featured essay on the philosophical viewpoints of Jean-Jacques Rousseau and the role of the individual within civil society through the themes of individual sovereignty and individual autonomy:

http://etw.heavengames.com/articles/history/events

[Wildor]

Hard to say. I do believe Voltaire to be the better known of the two outside of France. As to their respective impact, I can't decide...