Logos and Ethos: The Civil Religion in the Political Philosophy of Jean-Jacques Rousseau

This article explores the concept of civil religion from the perspective of Jean-Jacques Rousseau. It starts with a discussion of the essence of sovereignty as the implementation of general will, which, the author explains, is manifested in the obedience of the laws. The article then discusses the way in which, in Rousseau’s view, institutional mechanisms work and thereupon explores how he envisaged the role of religion in the constitution of states and concludes with explaining the meaning of civil religion in his thought.