The Ideas of Bruno Bernardi and the Autobiographical Works of J.-J. Rousseau

The author analyzes the historiographical situation that has arisen in contemporary studies of J.-J. Rousseau’s works under the influence of the study of concepts, which was proposed by the French researcher Bruno Bernardi and his colleagues. It is noted that this approach led to a revision of established views and contributed to overcoming the crisis trends in the historiography of the 1970s and 1980s. At the same time, this approach contributed to a decline in interest in Rousseau’s “autobiographical” works. The author examines the key theme revealed in these works: the theme of “reform-transformation”, presented by Rousseau as the main event of his life. Rousseau himself recognized this event both as a period of formation of his value guidelines and as a moment of release of creative “energy”. The social experience he described contributed to his understanding of the deep processes that took place in the society of the Age of Enlightenment. His “Considerations on the Form of Government in Poland” bear the imprint of the intuitions and intentions contained in his “transformation-reform”. That is why the study of Rousseau’s “autobiographical” works allows us to better understand the essence of his political discourse, studied by B. Bernardi.