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A review by elhombrenuevo
Discours sur l'origine et les fondements de l'inégalité parmi les hommes by Jean-Jacques Rousseau
4.0
In some ways the Discours was a letdown. Much has been made of Rousseau's concept of human nature being vindicated in recent decades by scientific research, but in this work at least his prescience often seems serendipitous: the book lacks rigour even as J.-J. pats himself on the back for his arguments.
Nonetheless, I'm giving it four stars on grounds of its enjoyability and historical importance. Rousseau's style, especially in the original French, is bright and readable; the words quoted are often delightful; its central place in Englightenment and Romanticist thought also makes it fascinating for those interested in these movements.
Most of all, Rousseau understood - ahead of his time - that human nature is contingent on social structures. Though he wrote this more than a century before, say, [b:Capital|325785|Capital, Vol. 1 A Critical Analysis of Capitalist Production|Karl Marx|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1348385812l/325785._SY75_.jpg|345846], he greatly anticipates Ricœur's three maîtres du soupçon [masters of suspicion] Marx, Nietzsche and Freud. Though Rousseau reaches unsatisfying conclusions, it's a shame his sceptical instinct wasn't more influential - 250 years on, it's a baseless and cynical ideological framework that dominates.
Nonetheless, I'm giving it four stars on grounds of its enjoyability and historical importance. Rousseau's style, especially in the original French, is bright and readable; the words quoted are often delightful; its central place in Englightenment and Romanticist thought also makes it fascinating for those interested in these movements.
Most of all, Rousseau understood - ahead of his time - that human nature is contingent on social structures. Though he wrote this more than a century before, say, [b:Capital|325785|Capital, Vol. 1 A Critical Analysis of Capitalist Production|Karl Marx|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1348385812l/325785._SY75_.jpg|345846], he greatly anticipates Ricœur's three maîtres du soupçon [masters of suspicion] Marx, Nietzsche and Freud. Though Rousseau reaches unsatisfying conclusions, it's a shame his sceptical instinct wasn't more influential - 250 years on, it's a baseless and cynical ideological framework that dominates.