A Work of Art or a Labor of Love? Rousseau on Artistic Creation, Love and the Social Contract

Although there is a wide-ranging literature on the role that patriotism (l’amour de la patrie) plays in Rousseau’s political thought, the existing literature considers patriotism, at best, complementary, at worst, irrelevant to Rousseau’s understanding of popular sovereignty. In opposition to these interpretations, this paper highlights the centrality of patriotism for Rousseau’s political theory. Focusing on Rousseau’s so-called ‘non-political,’ fictional writings that were contemporaneous with the Social Contract, I provide a new reading of Rousseau’s account of popular sovereignty in light of his conceptualization of love (amour) in Emile and especially in his final play Pygmalion. My argument is that although there is no explicit discussion of patriotism in the Social Contract, Rousseau’s concept of popular sovereignty can be fully comprehended only through the lenses of his peculiar understanding of love which, in its search for immediacy, leaves no place for any kind of mediation.