Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778)Swiss-French philosopher, author, political theorist, and composer who held that the individual is essentially good but usually corrupted by society. His written works include The Social Contract and Émile (both 1762). Few people have equaled Rousseau's influence in politics, literature, and education. What was new and important about his educational philosophy, as outlined in Émile, was its rejection of the traditional ideal: education was not seen to be the imparting of all things to be known to the uncouth child; rather it was seen as the "drawing out" of what is already there, the fostering of what is native.