"Whether we realize it or not, all of us participate in the social contract every day through mutual obligations among our family, community, place of work, and fellow citizens. Caring for others, paying taxes, and benefiting from public services define the social contract that supports and binds us together as a society. Today, however, our social contract has been broken by changing gender roles, technology, new models of work, aging, and the perils...

"Robots, artificial intelligence, and driverless cars are no longer things of the distant future. They are with us today and will become increasingly common in coming years, along with virtual reality and digital personal assistants. As these tools advance deeper into everyday use, they raise the question--how will they transform society, the economy, and politics? If companies need fewer workers due to automation and robotics, what happens to those...

This revised edition of G. D. H. Cole's translation includes an appendix of sections from the first manuscript draft of The Social Contract and the passage in Rousseau's novel Emile in which he summarizes its argument.