The Life of Wisdom in Rousseau's "Reveries of the Solitary Walker" is the first complete exegesis and interpretation of Rousseau's final and culminating work, showing its full philosophic and moral teaching. The Reveries has been celebrated as a work of literature that is an acknowledged acme of French prose writing. Thomas L. Pangle argues that this aesthetic appreciation necessitates an in-depth interpretation of the writing's complex and multileveled intended teaching about the normatively best way of life―and how essential this is for a work that was initially bewildering. Rousseau stands out among modern political philosophers in that he restored, to political philosophy, what Socrates and his students (from Plato and Xenophon through Aristotle and the Stoics and Cicero) had made central―and that the previous modern, Enlightenment philosophers had eclipsed: the study of the life and soul of the exemplary, independent sage, as possessor of "human wisdom." Rousseau made this again the supreme theme and source of norms for political philosophy and for humanity's moral as well as civic existence. In his analysis of The Reveries , Pangle uncovers Rousseau's most profound exploration and articulation of his own life, personality, soul, and thought as "the man of nature enlightened by reason." He describes, in Rousseau's final work, the fullest embodiment of the experiential wisdom from which flows and to which points Rousseau's political and moral philosophy, his theology, and his musical and literary art. Few interpretations take the Rousseau of The Reveries seriously as a rival of ancient sages. The best of these is The Life of Wisdom in Rousseau's 'Reveries of the Solitary Walker,' in which Thomas L. Pangle masterfully and engagingly guides readers through a confounding text. -- Jonathan Marks, Ursinus College Pangle's remarkable book shows that The Reveries is not merely an autobiography but also a philosophical teaching on the best life for a human being. The Life of Wisdom in Rousseau's 'Reveries of the Solitary Walker' is meticulous in argument and attentive to Rousseau's subtleties. Essential reading. -- Ryan Patrick Hanley, Boston College The Life of Wisdom in Rousseau's 'Reveries of the Solitary Walker' will be the definitive interpretation of The Reveries . Thomas L. Pangle's sustained comparison between Rousseau and ancient thinkers, especially Plato and Xenophon, on what it means to be a "moral-political thinker" is a major contribution to understanding Rousseau's purpose. Pangle's deep knowledge of the ancients is marshalled in the service of resolving once and for all what has been called Rousseau's Socratism. -- Andrea Radasanu, Northern Illinois University, editor of The Pious Sex The Life of Wisdom in Rousseau's 'Reveries of the Solitary Walker' will be the definitive interpretation of The Reveries . Thomas L. Pangle's sustained comparison between Rousseau and ancient thinkers, especially Plato and Xenophon, on what it means to be a "moral-political thinker" is a major contribution to understanding Rousseau's purpose. Pangle's deep knowledge of the ancients is marshalled in the service of resolving once and for all what has been called Rousseau's Socratism. -- Andrea Radasanu, Northern Illinois University, editor of The Pious Sex Thomas L. Pangle is the Joe R. Long Chair in Democratic Studies in the Department of Government at the University of Texas at Austin, Codirector of the Thomas Jefferson Center for the Study of Core Texts and Ideas, and a Lifetime Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.