Discourse on the Origin of Inequality

by Jean Jacques Rousseau
France
28 Jun 1712 // 2 Jul 1778
Philosopher / Writer



This is Mine (1)

The first man who, having enclosed a piece of ground, bethought himself of saying �This is mine�, and found people simple enough to believe him, was the real founder of civil society. From how many c...

The Effect of Habit on Education (2)

It is in fact easy to see that many of the differences which distinguish men are merely the effect of habit and the different methods of life men adopt in society. Thus a robust or delicate constitut...

Virtue and Vice are Moral Concepts (3)

It appears, at first view, that men in a state of nature, having no moral relations or determinate obligations one with another, could not be either good or bad, virtuous or vicious; unless we take t...

Compassion is the Ultimate Justice (4)

Compassion is a natural feeling, which, by moderating the violence of love of self in each individual, contributes to the preservation of the whole species. It is this compassion that hurries us with...

Knowledge and Passion (5)

Whatever moralists may hold, the human understanding is greatly indebted to the passions, which, it is universally allowed, are also much indebted to the understanding. It is by the activity of the p...


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Discourse on the Origin of Inequality

Jean Jacques Rousseau

 

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