If humans are benevolent by nature, how do societies become corrupt? And how do governments founded upon the defense of individual rights degenerate into tyranny? These are the questions addressed by Jean-Jacques Rousseau's Discourse on the Origin of Inequality, a strikingly original inquiry into much-explored issues of 18th-century (and subsequent) philosophy: human nature and the best form of government.
Rousseau takes an innovative approach by introducing a "hypothetical history" that presents a theoretical view of people in a pre-social condition and the ensuing effects of civilization. In his sweeping account of humanity's social and political development, the author develops a theory of human evolution that prefigures Darwinian thought and encompasses aspects of ethics, sociology, and epistemology. He concludes that people are inevitably corrupt as a result of both natural (or physical) inequalities and moral (or political) inequalities.
One of the most influential works of the Enlightenment, the Discourse on the Origin of Inequality offers a thought-provoking account of society's origins and a keen criticism of unequal modern political institutions.

• We started tracking this book on December 24, 2019.
• This book was £1.42 when we started tracking it.
• The price of this book has changed 59 times in the past 1,583 days.
• The current price of this book is £1.99 last checked 17 hours ago.
• This lowest price this book has been offered at in the past six months is £1.49.
• This lowest price this book has been offered at in the past year is £1.42.
• The lowest price to date was £1.42 last reached on May 6, 2023.
• This book has been £1.42 7 times since we started tracking it.
• The highest price to date was £2.04 last reached on October 8, 2023.
• This book has been £2.04 one time since we started tracking it.

• Politics & Social SciencesPhilosophyEpistemology
• Politics & Social SciencesPhilosophyPolitical
• Politics & Social SciencesPolitical History & Theory

• Text-to-Speech: Disabled
• Lending: Disabled
• File Size: 603 KB