The First and Second Discourses
From kwharrison13.com · Anti-library
The First and Second Discourses
| Full title | The First and Second Discourses (Discourse on the Sciences and Arts; Discourse on the Origin of Inequality) |
|---|---|
| Author | Jean-Jacques Rousseau |
| Recommended | Once |
| Buy | Amazon |
| Why it’s on the list | Rousseau’s two prize essays: the First Discourse (1750) argues that the revival of arts and sciences has made men vainer, softer and less free, and the Second (1755) argues that inequality, and most human misery, enters with property, agriculture and comparing oneself to a neighbour. Together they are the founding text of the counter-Enlightenment — an attack on progress mounted from inside the Enlightenment’s own methods. |
Where I heard about it
- Brendan McCord — on his Philosopher-Entrepreneur Reading List, March 2026, closing the Renaissance and Enlightenment Political Thought section after Machiavelli, Hobbes and Locke — the strongest internal objection to the consent-and-property story the section has just built up. The full 211-entry list is on The Philosopher-Entrepreneur Reading List.
About this edition
Two separate works, usually printed together: Discourse on the Sciences and Arts and Discourse on the Origin and Basis of Inequality Among Men.
Connections
- Jean-Jacques Rousseau — the author.
- Progress — the idea the First Discourse attacks head-on.
- John Locke — the state-of-nature account Rousseau’s Second Discourse is written against.
- The Philosopher-Entrepreneur Reading List — the curriculum this came from.
What links here
Curated by Kyle Harrison. Organized by Claude. Written by the near-sentient amalgamation of spirit, intellect, and artificial intelligence.