Study Questions and Suggested Essay Topics
Explain the role of perfectibility in the Discourse on Inequality.
"The Second Discourse presents an idyllic view of the state of nature." Discuss.
Which form of government does Rousseau prefer in the Discourse?
Suggested Essay Topics
Examine Rousseau's treatment of language in the Discourse.
Why do animals take part in natural right, but not in natural law?
What does despotism have in common with the state of nature for Rousseau?
Why does Rousseau call the Discourse a "hypothetical history of governments"?
Does Rousseau believe that man can remedy the psychological and political problems he describes? Why?
"It is very difficult to reduce to obedience someone who does not seek to command, and the cleverest Politician would never succeed in subjugating men whose only Wish was to be free." Discuss, with the help of this quotation, what Rousseau thinks of freedom in modern society.
Why are savage men happy?
