Rousseau's Discourse on Inequality

Rousseau's "Discourse on Inequality" explores how humans originally lived freely in nature, enjoying equality and simplicity. He argues that society and civilization created unequal social hierarchies, private property, and greed, which led to conflict and loss of freedom. Rousseau believes that these developments corrupted our natural goodness and fostered injustice. He advocates for recognizing these roots of inequality to understand how society has strayed from genuine liberty and morality, emphasizing that true freedom comes from aligning societal structures with our innate, spontaneous nature.