Jean Jacques Rousseau deserves to remain on the philosophical syllabus because of his valuable contributions to help the advancement of ideas when it comes to mitigating the corruption of humankind because of society.
Winning first place on his first try by submitting the First Discourse at the Academy of Dijon set his recognition in motion, paving the way the idea of society vs nature after arguing that society corrupts morality, which motivated him to compete again, birthing the Second Discourse, giving rise to call out that the root of inequality among people is private property. Afterwards, he also wrote the Social Contract which theorizes the best way to establish a political community to deal with society is to give up natural rights in exchange for social rights.
Given the timeline and proximity to certain historical events, the Social Contract argued against the idea of monarchs having divine rights to legislature, that a sovereign people have an all powerful right. This influenced the French Revolution and specifically, Maximillian “The Incorruptible” Robespierre which along with the beheading of royalty, brought radical political and societal change.
Jean Jacques Rousseau’s influence on major characters like Robespierre was vital for this revolution to take place which, despite his misogynistic and dead-beat father activities, merits a place in next year’s syllabus and a position in the philosophical canon.