Discourse on the Origin of Inequality

Jean-Jacques Rousseau was a major figure of the Enlightenment, a philosophic movement in 17th- and 18th-century Europe that had an enormous influence on the modern world. Its animating principle was that reason and science could improve the understanding of not only the physical world but also of human society. New academic fields such as political science, economics, sociology, and anthropology sought to identify truths of human behavior that, if heeded, would allow for a healthier and more fulfilling life. For example, Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations (1776) is generally considered the first modern book on economics and provided the theoretical basis for modern capitalism, free trade, and the division of labor.

Many core ideas of the Enlightenment reflect its historical circumstances. Protestants and Catholics throughout Europe spent decades locked in brutal conflict. As a solution, Enlightenment thinkers suggested religious toleration. Extraordinary developments in science and mathematics promoted the idea that human beings could discover principles of nature and use them to better their condition. A gradual shift in power away from a landed aristocracy toward a commercial middle class undermined traditional notions of authority and promoted the idea of society as a “contract” among free individuals rather than a hierarchical order with privileges based on heredity or the

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