2
If the first glimmers of judgment dazzle us and at first make a blur of objects in our sight, let us
wait for our weak eyes to open up again and steady themselves, and soon we shall see
these same objects again in the light of reason.—J..J. Rousseau (Emile, 290 [IV: 600])
[P]ower, glory, riches, and pleasures are all eclipsed and disappear like
a shadow before justice and virtue.–J.J. Rousseau (Imitation, 350 [V: 1211])
It has often been said of political solutions that the cure is worse than the disease, and perhaps no
work of political theory strives to illustrate this point more than Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s
Discourse on Inequality. According to him, the disease is “the most horrible state of war” (DOI,
172 [III: 176]). The “cure” is a social contract between the rich and the poor. The poor seek an
end to war for obvious reasons—to put an end to bloodshed and establish civil order. The rich
also seek these things, but further hope to protect their dubiously acquired extensive property
holdings. Thus having more at stake than the poor, it is the rich who devise the agreement. Their
plan, however, is the very definition of deviousness. In drawing up a one-sided contract, they
find the means to perpetuate their status and holdings above and against the poor. And through
their deceit and cunning, they are not only able to get the consent of the destitute, but actually get
them to defend the norms of the new contract with great enthusiasm and vigor. The contract
promises to institute laws, rules of justice, and the protection of everyone’s liberty, which prove
impossible to refuse in the context of war. The poor sign on and thus comes the end of overt
conflict.
This signing signals one of the most significant moments of political history for
Rousseau: the enchaining of the people. While one form of war has ended, another, more covert
Convention