The Social Contract
E7050
The Social Contract is a seminal 1762 political philosophy treatise by Jean-Jacques Rousseau that argues legitimate government is based on a collective agreement formed by the general will of the people.
All labels observed (11)
How this entity was disambiguated
This entity first appeared as the object of triple T42159 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.
NED1
Entity disambiguation (via context triple)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: The Social Contract Context triple: [Age of Enlightenment, majorWork, The Social Contract]
-
A.
The Spirit of the Laws
The Spirit of the Laws is a foundational 1748 political treatise by Montesquieu that systematically analyzes forms of government and famously articulates the doctrine of separation of powers.
-
B.
On Human Nature
On Human Nature is a landmark 1978 book by biologist Edward O. Wilson that explores the biological and evolutionary foundations of human behavior and won the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction.
-
C.
A Defence of the Constitutions of Government of the United States of America
A Defence of the Constitutions of Government of the United States of America is a three-volume political treatise by John Adams that analyzes historical republics to justify and defend the proposed American system of separated powers and mixed government.
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D.
Dieu et mon droit
Dieu et mon droit is the traditional French-language royal motto of the British monarchy, signifying the divine right of the sovereign to rule.
-
E.
The Enlightenment: An Interpretation
The Enlightenment: An Interpretation is a landmark two-volume historical study by Peter Gay that analyzes the ideas, culture, and leading figures of the 18th-century Enlightenment in Europe.
- F. None of above. chosen
- G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.
NED2
Entity disambiguation (via description)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: The Social Contract Target entity description: The Social Contract is a seminal 1762 political philosophy treatise by Jean-Jacques Rousseau that argues legitimate government is based on a collective agreement formed by the general will of the people.
-
A.
The Spirit of the Laws
The Spirit of the Laws is a foundational 1748 political treatise by Montesquieu that systematically analyzes forms of government and famously articulates the doctrine of separation of powers.
-
B.
On Human Nature
On Human Nature is a landmark 1978 book by biologist Edward O. Wilson that explores the biological and evolutionary foundations of human behavior and won the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction.
-
C.
A Defence of the Constitutions of Government of the United States of America
A Defence of the Constitutions of Government of the United States of America is a three-volume political treatise by John Adams that analyzes historical republics to justify and defend the proposed American system of separated powers and mixed government.
-
D.
Dieu et mon droit
Dieu et mon droit is the traditional French-language royal motto of the British monarchy, signifying the divine right of the sovereign to rule.
-
E.
The Enlightenment: An Interpretation
The Enlightenment: An Interpretation is a landmark two-volume historical study by Peter Gay that analyzes the ideas, culture, and leading figures of the 18th-century Enlightenment in Europe.
- F. None of above. chosen
Statements (48)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
book
ⓘ
political philosophy treatise ⓘ work of philosophy ⓘ |
| author | Jean-Jacques Rousseau ⓘ |
| centralClaim |
laws are legitimate only when expressing the general will
ⓘ
legitimate political authority arises from a social contract among citizens ⓘ sovereignty is inalienable and indivisible ⓘ |
| centralConcept |
general will
ⓘ
social contract ⓘ sovereignty of the people ⓘ |
| countryOfOrigin | Kingdom of France ⓘ |
| genre |
political philosophy
ⓘ
political theory ⓘ |
| hasPart |
Book I
ⓘ
Book II ⓘ Book III ⓘ Book IV ⓘ |
| hasTheme |
civic virtue
ⓘ
freedom and obedience to law ⓘ relationship between individual and state ⓘ |
| historicalPeriod | Age of Enlightenment ⓘ |
| influenced |
French Revolution
ⓘ
Immanuel Kant ⓘ John Rawls ⓘ democratic theory ⓘ liberal political thought ⓘ modern republicanism ⓘ |
| influencedBy |
Enlightenment
ⓘ
linked to:
Enlightenment philosophy
classical republicanism ⓘ natural law theory ⓘ |
| mainSubject |
general will
ⓘ
political authority ⓘ political legitimacy ⓘ popular sovereignty ⓘ social contract theory ⓘ |
| openingLine | Man is born free; and everywhere he is in chains. ⓘ |
| opposes |
absolute monarchy
ⓘ
divine right of kings ⓘ |
| originalLanguage | French ⓘ |
| originalTitle |
Du contrat social, ou Principes du droit politique
ⓘ
linked to:
The Social Contract
|
| philosophicalTradition |
Enlightenment philosophy
ⓘ
contractarianism ⓘ |
| placeOfFirstPublication | Amsterdam ⓘ |
| publicationYear | 1762 ⓘ |
| publisherAtFirstEdition | Marc-Michel Rey ⓘ |
| relatedWork | Discourse on the Origin and Basis of Inequality Among Men ⓘ |
| supports |
popular sovereignty
ⓘ
republican government ⓘ |
How these facts were elicited
The pipeline generated the facts above by prompting gpt-5.1 with this entity's name + description and the instruction below.
Instruction
You are a knowledge base construction expert. Given a subject entity and a description of it, return factual statements that you know for the subject as a JSON list of dictionaries(triples), where keys must be "subject", "predicate" and "object". The number of facts may be very high, between 25 to 50 or more, for very popular subjects. For less popular subjects, the number of facts can be very low, like 5 or 10. # Requirements - If you don't know the subject at all, return an empty list. - If the subject is not a named entity, return an empty list. - Include at least one triple where predicate is "instanceOf". - Do not get too wordy. - Separate several objects into multiple triples with one object.
Input
Subject: The Social Contract Description of subject: The Social Contract is a seminal 1762 political philosophy treatise by Jean-Jacques Rousseau that argues legitimate government is based on a collective agreement formed by the general will of the people.
Referenced by (37)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.
linked to: The Social Contract
subject linked to:
Book I
subject linked to:
Book I
linked to: The Social Contract
subject linked to:
Book I
linked to: The Social Contract
subject linked to:
Book IV
linked to: The Social Contract
subject linked to:
Book III
linked to: The Social Contract
subject linked to:
Book III
linked to: The Social Contract
subject linked to:
Book III
linked to: The Social Contract
Book III (The Social Contract)
→
describedInWork
→
Du contrat social, ou Principes du droit politique
ⓘ
subject linked to:
Book III
linked to: The Social Contract
subject linked to:
Book III
linked to: The Social Contract
subject linked to:
Lettres écrites de la montagne (by Jean-Jacques Rousseau)
linked to: The Social Contract
linked to: The Social Contract
subject linked to:
Chōmin
linked to: The Social Contract
subject linked to:
兆民
linked to: The Social Contract
linked to: The Social Contract