Discourse on the Origin of Inequality

By Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Donald A. Cress (translator),

Book cover of Discourse on the Origin of Inequality

Book description

Donald Cress's highly regarded translation, based on the critical Pleiade edition of 1964, is here issued with a lively introduction by James Miller, who brings into sharp focus the cultural and intellectual milieu in which Rousseau operated. This new edition includes a select bibliography, a note on the text, a…

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1 author picked Discourse on the Origin of Inequality as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Rousseau is a delight to read. He offers a strong challenge to the Enlightenment thinkers of his time by suggesting that the modern embrace of commerce and sociability was more corrupt than beneficial for society.

In this Second Discourse, he offers a thought experiment through which we are taken back to the imagined origins of human society so that we can trace what is essential to the human condition.

He offers a statement of the injustice of modern economic inequality and invites us to consider political alternatives.

From Rebecca's list on why politics matter.

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Why We Hate asks why a social animal like Homo sapiens shows such hostility to fellow species members. The invasion of the Ukraine by Russia? The antisemitism found on US campuses in the last year? The answer and solution lies in the Darwinian theory of evolution through natural selection.

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