Rousseau's Critique of Inequality

by Frederick Neuhouser

Rousseau's Discourse on the Origin of Inequality among Mankind, published in 1755, is a vastly influential study of the foundations of human society, including the economic inequalities it tends to create. To date, however, there has been little philosophical analysis of the Discourse in the literature. In this book, Frederick Neuhouser offers a rich and incisive philosophical examination of the work. He clarifies Rousseau's arguments as to why social inequalities are so prevalent in human society and why they pose fundamental dangers to human well-being, including unhappiness, loss of freedom, immorality, conflict, and alienation. He also reconstructs Rousseau's four criteria for assessing when inequalities are or are not legitimate, and why. His reconstruction and evaluation of Rousseau's arguments are accessible to both scholars and students, and will be of interest to a broad range of readers including philosophers, political theorists, cultural historians, sociologists, and economists.

Genres: Philosophy

ebook

First published January 1, 2014

Reviews

[Maja Solar · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is amazing analysis of Rousseau’s de-naturalizing project of genealogy and critique of socio-economical inequalities! A few years ago I read Neuhouser's book Rousseau's Theodicy of Self-Love: Evil, Rationality, and the Drive for Recognition and already then realized that he is a brilliant thinker. Although I tend to be more inclined to dialectical thinkers, Ellen Meiksins Wood and Frederick Neuhouser are two exceptions whose analytical approach I adore. This book is a very precise analysis of key concepts of Rousseau's Second Discourse and at the same time it is linked to the crucial forms of inequalities of contemporary capitalism. The book is a pure reading pleasure and I recommend it to everyone interested in Rousseau and political thought in general.

[Wesley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible book. You get 1000% more out of reading this reconstruction of the Second Discourse plus the Second Discourse, than just by reading the Second Discourse itself, since it's arguments are pretty complex and jumbled, although still enlightening on the face of it.

Reading these two books in conjunction is the kind of experience where you don't look at the world the same way again.

[Thomas R · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic reconstruction of Rousseau's argument in the Second Discourse. Extremely thorough examination of the central role of amour propre and its nature. His defence of the "controversial interpretation of Rousseau's thought" (p. 157) that there is a unified understanding of amour propre to accommodate both an "inflamed" version (discussed in the Second Discourse) and a "non-inflamed" version (that aims for (equal) respect and esteem from others, rather than one-upmanship and domination) was very convincing. It's hard to believe that this position is controversial. It brings consistency to Rousseau's political writings.

Neuhouser offers an excellent account both of Rousseau's genealogy of inequality and its normative significance. The exposition and argumentation is thorough and sustained. I think it offers a wonderful account of the core themes of the Second Discourse and weaves them together with a precise and compelling account of the central role of amour propre.

Small points: I would have liked Chapter 5 on the contemporary relevance of Rousseau's critique to engage more widely than Rawls's work. And although I think the text is accessible for the interested reader, some parts of the discussion go quite deep into the weeds (which, of course, is great for those that are interested in these details!).

Here are a couple of passages that summarise an important thread of the book, that considers the relation between "natural" and "artificial" inequalities in society:

"Locating the source of moral inequalities in amour propre rather than in original human nature allows us to see them as our creations rather than as necessary consequences of our nature, and this opens up the possibility that amour propre might be able to assume forms different from those we are most familiar with, producing very different results from the degenerate society depicted in the Second Discourse. Another way of putting this point is to say that tracing moral inequality back to an artificial passion helps us to see where contingency enters human reality" (p. 210).

"Genealogy, then, is intimately related to critique because it serves to “de-naturalize” a host of social conditions whose legitimacy we tend to accept unreflectively precisely because we view those arrangements as “eternal givens” or “due to the nature of things.” ... Genealogy disrupts our unreflective “consent” to the inequalities of what we take to be a naturally given social order, and in doing so it undermines one of the principal conditions of their continued existence" (p. 211).

[Elena · Rating 5 out of 5]

written by the 🐐

[Alex M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an intelligent discussion of an important topic.
I have some remarks on Neuhouser here below; not a review just some reminiscences https://alexmfrankel.com/alex/roussea....