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Discourse On The Origin Of Inequality By Jean-Jacques Rousseau

506 Words3 Pages

Jean-Jacques Rousseau was a French Genevan author, philosopher, writer, and composer. Rousseau influenced the Enlightenment across Europe. Rousseau was born in the city-state Geneva. At the time, Geneva was a Protestant associate of the Swiss Confederacy and a Huguenot republic. During Rousseau's 20s, Rousseau dedicated himself to the studying philosophy, as well as mathematics and music. At the age of 27, Rousseau became a tutor in Lyon. Rousseau then moved to Paris. This was to present new system of numbered musical notation to the Academy of Sciences. Rousseau's new system was based on a single line, displaying numbers representing intervals between notes and dots and commas indicating rhythmic values. The Academy rejected Rousseau's new system. In 1755, Rousseau publishes his book Discourse on the Origin of Inequality. In Rousseau's Discourse on the Origin of Inequality, he begins with "humans in their primitive condition. There were no laws, no judges, and all people were equal. But, to preserve their private property, people adopted laws and governors. In result, people jumped not into liberty, but into chains. Civilized humans can no longer live without laws and magistrates. …show more content…

In The Social Contract, Rousseau tries to "harmonize individual liberty with governmental authority. The social contract was basically an agreement on the part of the entire society to be governed by its general will. If any individual wished to follow his own self-interest. He should be compelled to abide by the general will. This means nothing less than he will be forced to be free,"(511). This is because the general will represent the will of the communities. Rousseau argued that liberty was achieved through being forced to follow what is best for the people and that true freedom adheres to laws that is imposed. Liberty is to be found in obedience to a self-imposed

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