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What is the origin of inequality among human beings, and is it authorised by natural law? Jean-Jacques Rousseau imagines natural man before society, solitary, healthy and free, moved by pity rather than pride. Then he traces how property began, when the first man fenced off a piece of land, said 'this is mine' and found people simple enough to believe him, and how society, government and laws arose to protect the rich, turning natural freedom into chains of dependence and inequality.
Context and significance
Rousseau (1712–1778) wrote the Discourse in 1754 for a prize competition of the Academy of Dijon, which did not award it the prize, and published it in 1755; it deeply influenced the French Revolution and later critics of society. Read his The Social Contract.
About the author
Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778) was born in Geneva, lost his mother days after his birth, ran away from an apprenticeship at fifteen and lived for years as a wanderer, a music copyist and the protégé of Madame de Warens. In 1750 an essay arguing that civilisation had corrupted humanity won a prize and made him famous overnight.
In 1762 he published both The Social Contract and Emile; both were condemned, and he had to flee. His Confessions, one of the first modern autobiographies, admits among other things that he placed his own five children in a foundling hospital. Few writers have influenced politics, education and the romantic idea of the self so deeply.