The political opposition of Rousseau to Physiocracy: government,interest, citizenship

Abstract

Rousseau's relation to the Physiocrats has long been described as a “missed encounter” of which the Rousseau's letter to Mirabeau would serve as evidence. In opposition to this statement, I show in this article that this letter may offer a reliable prism which sheds light on Rousseau's meaningful opposition to physiocratic views. This opposition can be analyzed along three distinct conceptual lines, each interesting in its own right, and with regard to the birth of our political modernity. These are the theory of government, the definition of interest, and the interaction between public opinion and the formation of citizenship.