Discourse On the Origin of Inequality Essay Questions

Discuss the state of nature in Rousseau. What is man’s life like in this state, and what implications does this have for his life in society?

Briefly put, in the state of nature man's life is both idyllic and extremely difficult. On the one hand, he lives in a state of constant physical danger, must constantly forage for his sustenance, has no emotional attachments, and is subject to random natural disasters. On the other hand, he is free, he has no masters, and he does not command anyone. He does not have to follow any laws, he can do exactly what he pleases, and he has no need of any of the solutions that modern society has come up with to deal with problems that society has itself created. Because in the state of nature all people are free, and independent of one another, it follows that all forms of authority, and all forms of inequality, are necessarily illegitimate. They are the products of chance occurrences of nature, that solidified in turn as the weak were able to convince the strong to work for them, in order to protect their own property. A truly legitimate society, therefore, would be one in which people were once more independent, free to pursue their own ends, and in which there was no inequality.

Describe the development of language in the Second Discourse, and the problems it poses for Rousseau’s essay. How does Rousseau solve these problems, and what does this tell us about his ethics?

Rousseau confronts a basic "chicken and the egg" paradox. Ostensibly, society could not exist without language. If human beings were originally solitary, they would need to communicate with one another in order to form a society. On the other hand, precisely because they were solitary, they would have no need of language. Rousseau solves this problem by suggesting that chance occurrence brought human beings together, and in times of crisis, they found that they could work together. Therefore, the first language was purely functional, and had no generality. There were also only nouns and verbs, no adjectives. It is only once human society began to develop that these generalities became necessary, in order to describe objects that were absent.

Rousseau also says that our innate sense of pity, or compassion for other humans, is what led to this first use of language. Recognizing suffering in others led people to reach out to others. That pity was the original basis for language tells us that the must fundamental effective communications are those that sharpen our feelings for the suffering of our fellow human beings.

Describe the three systems of government and how they emerged from inequality. Which does Rousseau think is the most legitimate?

The three systems of government Rousseau considers are aristocracy, monarchy, and democracy. As labor is divided in society, and as some individuals in society become richer than others, governments develop, first by vote, then by custom, then, to prevent civil strife, by heredity. Aristocracy develops in those societies where a handful of people are wealthier than all the others. Democracy emerges in those places where people are more or less equal. Monarchy develops where one person is stronger and wealthier than all the others. Rousseau says that time will tell which system is the best. Since the state of nature was equal, it would stand to reason that democracy is the most legitimate form of government. But, in another sense, because government itself is based on inequality, and exists to protect property, which is always unequally distributed, in a sense, no system of government is truly legitimate. This is a fundamental tension of Rousseau’s text.

Describe the relationship between labor and property in early societies as described by Rousseau.

The division of labor is, in Rousseau’s view, a crucial turning point in human history. When human beings band together in order to perform complex tasks, like agriculture, they become dependent on one another, and can no longer break away from society. The division of labor begins to produce the first inequality beyond physical inequality, precisely because those whose intelligence allows them to work less than others quickly gain dominion over those who do not. Labor also introduces the first notion of property, because stable, regimented systems of labor give one the sense that one is entitled to the products of one’s own labor. This eventually leads to that moment in history when those who work less are able to convince those who work more to turn over a product of their labors in exchange for the protection of a common society.

How does Rousseau distinguish human beings from animals? Explain the role that man’s “perfectibility” plays in the Second Discourse.

Early man is almost indistinguishable from an animal. He only has physical needs, which he immediately satisfied—hunger, thirst, sexual desire, sleep, the need for shelter. This is man at his happiest, because he does not have the intelligence to know that there are other things he could have more, or less. Unlike animals, man possesses the ability to perfect himself, and so he gradually develops his mental and physical faculties, bringing him out of the state of nature, and making him want to make more of himself. Thus perfectibility makes man superior to animals, but, at the same time, less happy. Rousseau’s arguments have a Christian flavor here. On the one hand, the belief that man can perfect himself (without God) runs sharply against the teachings of the Church in Rousseau’s time. But on the other hand, the notion that human progress and human unhappiness are one and the same echoes the belief that Adam and Eve were kicked out of the Garden of Eden for eating from the Tree of Knowledge.