Moralists are, in fact, indispensable for any serious student, just as moralism is indispensable for a fair understanding of man. Without it, one falls into countless traps and is always mistaken in one’s assessment of spirits and works. Rousseau cannot be understood through his infamous Du contrat social, or through what, according to himself, is his most important work. Rousseau can only be understood when we compare this Émile with the biographical note that most editions lack: the author who wrote a volume of eight hundred pages teaching how others should educate their children sent the five he had to an orphanage.