Searching for: "Rousseau"

  • Jean Jacques Rousseau

    The Social Contract outlines Rousseau's views on political justice, explaining how a just and legitimate state is to be founded, organized and administered. Rousseau sets forth, in his characteristically brazen and iconoclastic manner, the case for direct democracy, while simultaneously casting every other form of government as illegitimate and tantamount to slavery. Often hailed as a revolutionary document which sparked the French Revolution, The Social Contract serves both to inculcate dissatisfaction with actually-existing governments and to allow its readers to envision and desire a radically different form of political and social organization. (Summary by Eric...read more

  • Jean Jacques Rousseau

    “Thus I have acted; these were my thoughts; such was I.” Rousseau’s lengthy and sometimes anguished dossier on the Self is one of the most remarkable and courageous works of introspection ever undertaken. Some readers may be repelled by his tendency to revel in embarrassing accounts of humiliation and fiasco, as if he were striving too hard to achieve an ultimate nakedness, a nakedness of the soul perhaps. Others may recall the compulsive self-searching of the narrator of Proust’s A la recherche du temps perdu, who also rather dwelt on the co-existence in the individual of the vile and the virtuous. The two opening volumes of the Confessions, presented in this inevitably censored...read more

  • Shirley Rousseau Murphy

    What's the perfect read for fans of New York Times bestselling mystery authors Lilian Jackson Braun and Rita Mae Brown? This delightful ninth Joe Grey Mystery from award-winning author Shirley Rousseau Murphy. Evil has crept into Molena Point, California, on stealthy cat feet. A rash of brazen burglaries, from antique jewelry to vintage cars, coincides with the unwelcome appearance of yellow-eyed Azrael, feline nemesis of crime-solving cats Joe Grey and Dulcie. But what follows soon after really has Joe's fur standing on edge. A young, healthy waiter drops dead at a reception for local artist Charlie Harper. And when the trail of big-time thefts leads up to San Francisco, the dark beast...read more

  • Shirley Rousseau Murphy

    Even felines with such amazing talents as Joe Grey and his partner, Dulcie, need some down time. Using their amazing abilities to talk and read, they've helped their unwitting humans put bad guys away. But these clever four-footed detectives can't possibly enjoy a little catnap, not when their lovely seaside village is in an uproar. It's bad enough that Molena Point has been invaded by a famous writer and his suspiciously rude wife. Then the local yard sales set off a host of puzzling thefts. Whiskers twitching and tails up, Joe Grey and Dulcie can't resist pouncing on the case. Helped by their beloved companion, an inquisitive young tortoiseshell kit, Joe Grey and Dulcie soon discover...read more

  • Jean Jacques Rousseau

    This work presents Rousseau's belief in the profoundly transformational effects of the development of civilization on human nature, which Rousseau claims other political philosophers had failed to grasp. Specifically, before the onset of civilization, according to Rousseau, natural man lived a contented, solitary life, naturally good and happy. It is only with the onset of civilization, Rousseau claims, that humans become social beings, and, concomitant with their civilization, natural man becomes corrupted with the social vices of pride, vanity, greed and servility. (summary by...read more

  • Jean-Jacques Rousseau

    “Man was born free, but everywhere he is in chains.” Thus begins Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s influential 1762 work, On the Social Contract, a milestone of political science and essential reading for students of history, philosophy, and social science. A progressive work, it inspired worldwide political reforms, most notably the American and French Revolutions, because it argued that monarchs were not divinely empowered to legislate. Rousseau asserts that only the people, in the form of the sovereign, have that all-powerful right. On the Social Contract’s appeal and influence has been wide-ranging and continuous. It has been called an encomium to democracy and, at the same time, a...read more

  • Shirley Rousseau Murphy

    It's been quite a week for Joe Grey. First the large, powerful feline discovers that, through some strange, inexplicable phenomenon, he now has the ability to understand human language. Then he discovers he can speak it as well! It's a nightmare for a cat who'd prefer to sleep the day away carefree, but Joe can handle it. That is, until he has the misfortune to witness a murder in the alley behind Jolly's Deli—and worse, to be seen witnessing it. With all of his nine lives suddenly at risk, Joe's got no choice but to get to the bottom of the heinous crime—because his mouse-hunting days are over for good unless he can help bring a killer to...read more

  • Shirley Rousseau Murphy

    On a lovely moonlit night, while carrying a gift of mice to a litter of kittens, Joe Grey stumbles upon a murder scene. Behind an empty house, in an empty swimming pool, there's blood, the smell of human death, and drag marks. But there's no victim—and it's hard to prove a crime without a corpse. Driven by stubborn feline curiosity, Joe Grey sets out to investigate. With Dulcie and Kit following him along a killer's trail, Joe discovers evidence of conflict among the residents of this seemingly peaceful neighborhood: multiple signs of breaking and entering, with nothing of value stolen. And they find something far worse: hints of violence yet to come—and more planned murder. With the...read more

  • Shirley Rousseau Murphy

    Escaping Los Angeles and the ugly memories of her son's recent murder, Maudie Toola returns to her childhood home of Molena Point, bringing her orphaned grandson, whom she must now raise, with her. Mourning for her son, she's not looking forward to the holidays but feels she must make them positive for the child. But Maudie is unaware that the killer has followed her—and that the small seaside village is dealing with a series of brutal assaults. A team of criminals is stalking single women, hiding their attacks behind spectacular break-ins to divert the cops. And this time there's not even a phone call from the four-footed snitch to give the cops a lead. Meanwhile, a new tomcat...read more

  • Shirley Rousseau Murphy

    Romance is in the air in the charming seaside village of Molena Point, California. Everyone is excited about the upcoming wedding of its chief of police to the lovely Charlie Getz, even cool feline detective Joe Grey. But the festivities are interrupted when two uninvited guests try to blow up the church. Then one of the bride's good friends, building contractor Ryan Flannery, lands in a heap of trouble when her philandering husband is found dead. With suspicion falling on Ryan's shoulders, Joe Grey and his pals, Dulcie and Kit, set out to prove her innocence. Soon paw-deep in a tangle of jealousy, greed, and vengeance, Joe Grey, Dulcie, and Kit find themselves in the biggest cat fight of...read more

  • Jean Jacques Rousseau

    "The smallest, the most trifling pleasure that is conveniently within my reach, tempts me more than all the joys of paradise." Here again is the youthful, hero-worshipping Jean-Jacques - displaying an emotional immaturity that leads him into picaresque escapades in the company of transients and misfits, always ending in reunion with mother-surrogate Madame de Warens. In a literally unprecedented gesture of self-revelation, Rousseau opens Volume 3 exposing himself indecently in dark alleyways. This 1903 edition fails to appreciate the humorous strangeness of the passage and removes it to protect the reader. (Summary by Martin...read more

  • Shirley Rousseau Murphy

    The stakes are higher and more personal than ever for feline investigator Joe Grey when death comes to his beloved coastal California town in this twentieth installment of the enchanting cat mystery series. While new father Joe Grey is overjoyed to teach his three young kittens about the world, he misses his cop work—secretly helping solve crimes alongside his human friends at Molena Point PD. But when beautician Barbara Conley and one of her customers are found dead in the salon, Joe makes an exception and heads for the crime scene. He has no idea that the kittens are following him, or how they will complicate the investigation. But this is not the only danger to the kittens. A...read more

  • Shirley Rousseau Murphy

    A big, powerful gray feline, Joe Grey is perfectly content with his remarkable ability to understand and communicate with humans—especially now that he has company. A mysterious accident similar to the one that enabled him to speak and read has transformed his friend Dulcie as well. The trouble is, the cute tabby female not only hears human words, she believes them. Now she's convinced the man who was jailed for murdering a famous local artist and burning down her studio is innocent—simply because he says so—and she's willing to do whatever it takes to dig up the evidence that will exonerate the accused. Joe would much prefer just lazing around the house doing kitty things, but the...read more

  • Shirley Rousseau Murphy

    There’s a bad new cat in sleepy little Molena Point: a renegade tom with a penchant for robbery, a scorn for his fellow felines, and a disdain for human laws. And he’s masterminding a crime spree that’s quickly escalating toward murder most foul. Dulcie and Joe Grey both know the score—they’ve seen Azrael in action. But how can they expose the criminal without letting ordinary, untrustworthy humans in on the secret that certain select cats can think—and talk? Cats like...read more

  • Jean Jacques Rousseau

    Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains. In The Social Contract, Rousseau explores the concept of freedom and the political structures that may enable people to acquire it. He argues that the sovereign power of a state lies not in any one ruler, but in the will of the general population. Rousseau argues that the ideal state would be a direct democracy where executive decision-making is carried out by citizens who meet in assembly, as they would in the ancient city-state of Athens. The thoughts contained in the work were instrumental to the advent of the American Revolution and became sacred to those leading the French Revolution. With traces of Aristotle and echoes of Plato's...read more

  • Shirley Rousseau Murphy

    Ever since the earthquake, things have been going from bad to worse in Molena Point, usually the most tranquil little town on the North California coast. It started with that suspicious 'accident' on Hellhag Hill. The police might write it off to the night fog, but Joe Grey knows a cut brake line when he sees it—he may be a cat, but he's already solved more murders than your average police detective! Then there's Clyde, Joe's erratic but loveable human. He thinks cats should stay out of police work (as if humans could handle it on their own!), and to make his point, he's locking Joe and his lady friend Dulcie out of the house when Officer Harper comes over to play poker. But Joe isn't...read more

  • Shirley Rousseau Murphy

    For feline PI Joe Grey and his companion Dulcie, life is a bittersweet mix of endings and beginnings. While they joyfully await their first litter, they are also sad for their friend, the old yellow cat Misto, whose time on earth is drawing to an end. But Misto tells them an exciting future awaits: among the litter will be a little calico from the distant past who will be born with ancient markings and the adventurous spirit of Joe Grey. While the proud parents await the birth of their babies, their humans have their hands full with projects of their own. Kate Osborne has bought the old Pamillon estate, and Ryan Flannery is building a new cat shelter as part of their volunteer rescue...read more

  • Jean Jacques Rousseau

    "She was more to me than a sister, a mother, a friend, or even than a mistress, and for this very reason she was not a mistress; in a word, I loved her too much to desire her..." More of the amours of the twentysomething Jean-Jacques: here initiated into a strangely compromised manhood by his "maman" and perennial comforter - "Was I happy? No: I felt I know-not-what invincible sadness which empoisoned my happiness, it seemed that I had committed an incest, and two or three times, pressing her eagerly in my arms, I deluged her bosom with my tears. On her part, as she had never sought pleasure, she had not the stings of remorse..." (Introduction by Martin...read more

  • Jeanjacques Rousseau

    Published four years after Rousseau's death, Confessions is a remarkably frank and honest selfportrait, described by Rousseau as 'the history of my soul'. From his idyllic youth in the Swiss mountains, to his career as a composer in Paris and his abandonment of his children, Rousseau lays bare his entire life with preternatural honesty. He relates his scandals, follies, jealousies, sexual exploits and unrequited loves, as well as the torrential events surrounding his controversial works Discourses, E?mile and The Social Contract, which led to his persecution and wanderings in exile. Confessions provides an invaluable window into the making of the man, the society he lived in, and the...read more

  • Jean-Jacques Rousseau

    Julie ou la Nouvelle Héloïse est un roman épistolaire parut en 1761. Saint-Preux, jeune plébéien, et son élève Julie, fille du baron d'Étanges, éprouvent l'un pour l'autre une violente passion. Julie doit pourtant obéir à son père et épouser M. de Wolmar. Saint Preux s'éloigne. Julie, devenue épouse et mère, avoue sa passion pour Saint-Preux à son mari, qui invite pourtant le jeune homme à élever les 2 enfants du couple dans leur propriété. Après un moment d'accalmie, l'amour renait. Seule la mort empêche Julie de faillir...read more