Part one of term paper
Rousseau writes in answer to a question proposed to him, namely, what is the origin of inequality? Almost all of the philosophers writing before him tended to assert that certain things were inherent in man’s original nature, and that this lead to the origin of government and law. Rousseau, however, takes a different approach. He argues th ...

Part two of term paper
... of each species before various physical causes had introduced into certain species the varieties we now observe among some of them.’(853) Rousseau has a problem with the philosopher’s arguments, however, about natural law. He believes that since we are civilized, think well, and use speech, that we too often attribute some of these qualities to man in a natural state, when in fact ‘it is impossible to understand the law of nature and consequently to obey it without being a great reasoner ...