“it is not enough for a legislator to make his people "see objects as they are"; he must also sometimes make them see objects "as they should appear to be" (Rousseau, 1979, p. 67). There are passages outside of the Social Contract in which he elaborates on the differences between the communication of a theoretical doctrine to philosophers and a variety of popular presentations to an unenlightened multitude. As an author of treatises, novels, plays, poems, and operas, Rousseau had good reason to reflect on this question, and it is one of the most frequently recurring issues in his work. “

”to persuade without convincing”: the language of Rousseau’s legislator

-Christopher kelly