Rousseau and the Performance of Being Yourself

Commentary “I have entered upon a performance which is without example, whose accomplishment will have no imitator. I mean to present my fellow-mortals with a man in all the integrity of nature; and this man shall be myself.” — Rousseau, “Confessions” Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778) didn’t just preach sincerity—he tried to live it, even when it meant […]