I confess to having read relatively little by him. I read the usual snippets and exerpts in college and a little bit more after. And, frankly, I doubt I’ll ever get around to reading that much more by him. I’m not being stubborn or petulent. I’m merely prioritizing. There’s so much I need to read that I never have, the idea of giving Rosseau a second chance when so many writers I trust echo the sentiments of that second emailer below just seems like a non-starter. That said, I do think it’s true that there’s a surprising undercurrent in conservative thought which is more favorable to Rosseau than you’d think. Several PhD. neocon/Straussian wonks I know are big fans. So was Wilmoore Kendall if memory serves and — I think — Walter Berns was too.