Discourse on the Origin of Inequality (The World's Classics) [Paperback]

Jean-Jacques Rousseau (Author), Patrick Coleman (Editor), Franklin Philip (Translator)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0192829475 | ISBN-13: 978-0192829474 | Publication Date: April 7, 1994

In Discourse on the Origin of Inequality, Rousseau argues that inequalities of rank, wealth, and power are the inevitable result of the civilizing process. His sweeping account of humanity's social and political development epitomizes the innovative boldness of the Enlightenment, and it is one of the most provocative and influential works of the eighteenth century. This new translation by prize-winning translator Franklin Philip includes all of Rousseau's own notes, and Patrick Coleman's introduction builds on recent key scholarship, considering particularly the relationship between political and aesthetic thought.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: French

About the Author

Franklin Philip is the prize-winning translator of numerous French texts. Patrick Coleman is the author of Rousseau's Political Imagination (1984). --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (April 7, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0192829475
• ISBN-13: 978-0192829474
• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 4.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,443,636 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Most disappointing publication of any work I've ever read, October 12, 2010

By 

CasieJean - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Discourse on the Origin of Inequality (Paperback)

This publication is unacceptably limited in content.

1) It does not include any of Rousseau's footnotes, which are critical to a more complete understanding his arguments.

2) It does not include the original date of publication.

3) It does not include his Dedication to Geneva.

10 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Man, Animal -- Manimal!, September 17, 2003

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book lover - See all my reviews

This review is from: Discourse on the Origin of Inequality (The World's Classics) (Paperback)

This essay was Rousseaus's submission to the Academy of Dijon contest, entitled, "Has the progress of the arts and sciences contributed more to the corruption or purification of morals?".

This text is his story about Nature, and Society, and the scandal that happens when people come together, build, divide, dance, sing, and compare themselves with one another. In many ways, it is his answer to the problem of evil.

Natural man is, in many ways, good, because his needs are immediately felt and immediately fulfilled. Social man begins to compete, to hoard, and to use cunning to enslave his fellows, to gain their esteem, take their property, and sometimes their lives.

His picture of the natural man is half what we think of an "animal" and half the "human" that we recognize in ourselves. He shifts his description as the flow of arguement dictates. The habitual provocateur, Rousseau - watch him!

In a way, he is rewriting the Christian "Creation Myth". In his version, evil does not originate at that moment when man eats the fruit of the "Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil" --to "be like God"; it happens when Adam wants a better apple than Eve's got for herself. Before society develops as we know it, Adam would have been fine with just a pear.

5 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The garden of eden, August 10, 2000

By 

Raymond F. Donahue (Chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Discourse on the Origin of Inequality (Paperback)

I find Rousseau especially creative in the way he describes how inequality progressed from the time the first humans made contact. He makes a good case for the solitary life. I think Rousseau believes it is destructive whenever humans come together in groups. Governments were formed to protect the weaker from the stronger or as Rousseau thinks to actually protect the rich from the poor. This is an outstanding book. It will haunt you.