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Jean-Jacques Rousseau: The Origins of Inequality

Jakub Ferencik
The Labyrinth
Published in
6 min readMay 2, 2021

Before Rousseau starts his analysis, he first differentiates between different kinds of oppressions or inequalities. He says that there is

  1. “natural” or “physical” inequality and
  2. “political” inequality.

Natural inequality refers to inequalities imposed by physical stature, health, age, and the qualities of the mind. Political inequality refers to social status, wealth, and public influence. It is important to start any analysis by differentiating between terms, thus confronting hurdles in communication. Rousseau, therefore, rightly turns to this at the outset of his text. He writes that the primary purpose of his discourse is to question the nature of political inequality and whether there is any justification for aristocratic oppression.

Rousseau addresses the underlying tension we need to resolve in order to discuss the origin of inequality; we first must understand ourselves, our human nature, in order to make any justified conclusions about the prevalence of inequality in modern societies.

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The Labyrinth
The Labyrinth

Published in The Labyrinth

A place for a discussion of the ideas all around us in society, culture, philosophy, and more.

Jakub Ferencik
Jakub Ferencik

Written by Jakub Ferencik

Journalist living in Prague | Author of “Up in the Air” and “Beyond Reason” on AMAZON | MA McGill Uni | 750+ articles with 1+ mil. views

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