The Following Is an Excerpt from Jean-Jacques Rousseau's the Confessions

question 46

Multiple Choice

The following is an excerpt from Jean-Jacques Rousseau's The Confessions (Thinking Like a Historian) : "I have resolved on an enterprise which has no precedent, and which, once complete, will have no imitator. My purpose is to display to my kind a portrait in every way true to nature, and the man I shall portray will be myself. Simply myself. I know my own heart and understand my fellow man. But I am made unlike any one I have ever met; I will even venture to say that I am like no one in the whole world. I may be no better, but at least I am different. Whether Nature did well or ill in breaking the mould in which she formed me, is a question which can only be resolved after the reading of my book."
Why was Rousseau confident his work would "have no imitator"?

• A)He saw himself as unique.
• B)He believed he was the best writer who had ever lived or would ever live.
• C)He was sure no one would want to copy him.
• D)He knew he would be punished for his book.

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Definitions:

Sociohistorical Context

The combination of social, cultural, and historical factors that influence and shape events or phenomena at a given time.

Fundamental Disputes

Essential disagreements or debates over basic principles within a field of study or an area of professional practice.

Psychology

The scientific study of the human mind and its functions, especially those affecting behavior in a given context.

Functionalism

A theory in sociology and anthropology that interprets and describes society as a structure with interrelated parts designed to meet the biological and social needs of the individuals in that society.