Rousseau on the Origin of Inequality: A Critical Analysis

The Discourse on the Origin of Inequality (1755) is one of Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s most important works and one of the great texts of the Enlightenment. The Discourse develops a hypothetical history of the human race, tracing the development of human society from a primitive state of natural equality through the introduction of private property, the division of labor, and the establishment of civil society. The argument is that the development of civilization has been a process of corruption, in which the natural freedom and equality of human beings have been replaced by artificial inequality and servitude. This article examines the central arguments of the Discourse and their lasting significance.

The Dedication and the Preface

The Discourse was written in response to an essay question proposed by the Academy of Dijon: “What is the origin of inequality among men, and is it authorized by the natural law?” Rousseau’s response to this question is one of the most influential works of the Enlightenment.

The Discourse opens with a dedication to the Republic of Geneva, Rousseau’s birthplace, and a preface in which Rousseau explains his method. He distinguishes between the “natural man” and the “civil man,” and he argues that the proper study of human nature requires the careful analysis of both. The hypothetical history that the Discourse develops is not, Rousseau claims, a historical account of how human beings actually lived in the distant past; it is a philosophical analysis of the tendencies and possibilities of human nature.

The State of Nature

The first part of the Discourse develops an account of the state of nature, the hypothetical condition of human beings before the development of civil society. The natural man, for Rousseau, is a solitary, peaceful, and happy creature. He has few needs, and he is able to satisfy those needs without depending on others. He is not aggressive or violent, because he has nothing to fight about. He is not competitive or envious, because there is no basis for comparison. He is not proud or vain, because there is no one to impress.

The natural man is characterized by two main features: the love of self (amour de soi) and the pity (pitié). The love of self is the natural concern for one’s own well-being, which is not the same as the selfish amour-propre that develops in civil society. The pity is the natural repugnance at the sight of the suffering of others, which is a kind of pre-rational moral sentiment that prevents the natural man from harming others.

Rousseau’s account of the state of nature is highly idealized, and it is not intended as a historical description. The point of the account is to identify the natural tendencies of human nature — the love of self, the pity, the freedom from artificial needs and artificial distinctions — that have been corrupted by the development of civilization.

The Development of Inequality

The second part of the Discourse traces the development of human society from the state of nature through the various stages of civilization. The development is gradual, and it involves several important steps.

The first step is the development of the family. The natural man, who is initially solitary, begins to form small family groups. The family is a natural social unit, and it is based on the natural ties of affection between parents and children.

The second step is the development of agriculture and the division of labor. The introduction of agriculture makes possible the accumulation of surplus, and the division of labor allows individuals to specialize in the activities in which they have a comparative advantage.

The third step is the introduction of private property. Rousseau famously locates the introduction of private property in the moment when one human being first “fenced in a piece of ground” and said “this is mine.” The introduction of private property is, for Rousseau, the crucial step in the development of inequality, since it transforms the natural equality of the state of nature into the artificial inequality of civil society.

The fourth step is the establishment of civil society. The introduction of private property leads to conflict, and the conflict leads to the establishment of laws and government. The government, however, is not the neutral arbiter of the conflicts of society; it is the instrument of the propertied classes for the protection of their property.

The result is a society in which the natural equality of human beings has been replaced by artificial inequality. The few have acquired vast wealth and power, while the many have been reduced to poverty and dependence. The political institutions of society serve to maintain and to legitimate this inequality, and the moral and intellectual life of society is corrupted by the development of vanity, envy, and competition.

The Critique of Modern Society

The Discourse is a foundation for Rousseau’s critique of modern society. The arts and sciences, he argues, have not improved human morality; they have produced new forms of luxury, vanity, and inequality. The political institutions of modern Europe have not protected the freedom of the citizens; they have established new forms of domination. The economic development of modern Europe has not produced general prosperity; it has produced vast wealth for the few and grinding poverty for the many.

This critique is not a call for a return to the primitive state of nature. Rousseau recognized that the state of nature was a hypothetical construction, and he did not believe that it was possible or desirable to return to it. The proper response to the corruption of modern society, for Rousseau, was to develop political institutions that would allow human beings to recover some of the natural freedom and equality that they had lost.

The political solution that Rousseau proposed was the social contract and the general will. The proper political community, for Rousseau, is one in which the citizens come together to determine the conditions of their common life, and in which each individual is subject only to the laws that he has prescribed for himself. The result is a kind of moral and political freedom that is not available in the state of nature but that recovers some of its central values.

The Lasting Significance

The Discourse on the Origin of Inequality has had a profound influence on the development of modern political thought. The argument that the development of civilization has been a process of corruption has been an important source of the modern romantic and communitarian critiques of the Enlightenment. The argument that the introduction of private property is the source of social inequality has been an important source of the modern socialist tradition. The argument that the political institutions of modern society serve to legitimate the interests of the propertied classes has been an important source of the modern Marxist tradition.

Further Reading

• The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (plato.stanford.edu), relevant entry
• The Cambridge Companion to [Thinker] (Cambridge University Press)
• Isaiah Berlin, Four Essays on Liberty (1969)