Confessions

The Confessionsis Jean-Jacques Rousseau's autobiography. Covering his first 53 years, up to 1765, it was completed in 1769, but unpublished until 1782, four years after his death, even though he read excerpts of the manuscript publicly at various times. The Confessionswere two distinct works of six books apiece. Books I-VI were written between 1765 & 1767, & published in 1782; books VII-XII were written in 1769-1770, & published in 1789. Rousseau alludes to a third part, but it wasn't completed. Though the book is flawed, dates are frequently off, some events out of order, he provides an account of the experiences shaping his influential philosophy. For instance, the parts of his own education he liked best are clearly present in his account of ideal education, Emile, or On Education. Rousseau's work is notable as one of the first major autobiographies. Prior to his Confessions, the two great autobiographies were Augustine's & St Teresa's. Both of these works focused on religious experiences. The Confessionswas one of the first autobiographies in which someone wrote of his own life mainly in terms of his worldly experiences & feelings.