Kyle Harrison
to-read
Discourse on the Origin of Inequality
Discourse on the Origin and Basis of Inequality Among Men
- Author
- Jean-Jacques Rousseau
- Published
- 1755
- Recommended
- Once
Why it’s on the list: Rousseau’s argument that inequality is an artifact of society rather than nature, and that property is where it begins. His Confessions (1782) is the adjacent read from the same list.
Where I heard about it
- Peter Savodnik — his April 2026 post telling readers: “Read everything you can find by Plato, Aristotle, Shakespeare, Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau. To start.” This card is one of the twelve volumes that canon reduces to.
Connections
- Jean-Jacques Rousseau — from the same canon list.
- Inequality — from the same canon list.