Rousseau on the Pursuit of Happiness

This is a public lecture on the philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau. The speaker is Dr. Christopher Kelly, who is Professor of Political Science at Boston College and one of the foremost interpreters of Jean-Jacques Rousseau today.

About the speaker

Dr. Kelly is the co-editor (with Roger D. Masters) of the Collected Writings of Rousseau (in thirteen volumes) published by the University Press of New England (1990-2009). He has also authored dozens of articles on Rousseau and edited three collections of essays, including most recently The Challenge of Rousseau (with Eve Grace) published by Cambridge University Press (2013). Dr. Kelly is also the author of two monographs: Rousseau as Author: Consecrating One’s Life to the Truth (University of Chicago Press, 2003) and Rousseau’s Exemplary Life: The “Confessions” as Political Philosophy (Cornell University Press, 1987).

Dr. Kelly received his Ph.D. from the University of Toronto in 1979 after completing a B.A. at Yale University (1972) and an M.A. at the University of Toronto (1973). Over the course of his career, he has been a Maître d’Études at l’École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS, Paris) and has taught at the University of Maryland, Darthmouth College, Georgetown University and Yale. His work has been recognized by fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Earhart Foundation, and the Howard Foundation.