Sara L. Price
I am a PhD Candidate and associate instructor of political theory at the University of California, Davis.
The main question that I tackle in my dissertation is investigating the intersection between theory and practice in the political works of Rousseau. I show that by understanding Rousseau on this dimension, one can obtain a clearer picture of his project and his particular contribution to political theory, namely, that rather than merely presenting a polemical critique to his contemporaries and to posterity, he in fact has a practical philosophy in his works. This approach combats the one-dimensional views of Rousseau stemming from a pessimist-idealist dichotomy one often sees in the secondary literature. I reconstruct a practical positive theory of political association that is organic and self-correcting, and for which forward progress is possible.
The main question that I tackle in my dissertation is investigating the intersection between theory and practice in the political works of Rousseau. I show that by understanding Rousseau on this dimension, one can obtain a clearer picture of his project and his particular contribution to political theory, namely, that rather than merely presenting a polemical critique to his contemporaries and to posterity, he in fact has a practical philosophy in his works. This approach combats the one-dimensional views of Rousseau stemming from a pessimist-idealist dichotomy one often sees in the secondary literature. I reconstruct a practical positive theory of political association that is organic and self-correcting, and for which forward progress is possible.
