How did Jacques Derrida analyze Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s opposition between nature and culture?

Jacques Derrida analyzed the opposition between nature and culture in the works of Jean-Jacques Rousseau as part of his broader project of deconstruction.

Rousseau traditionally posited that nature is primary, describing culture and society as corrupting forces that emerged from an original, peaceful state of nature. Derrida challenged this hierarchical binary by highlighting a fundamental contradiction: while Rousseau treats nature as prior to culture, the very concept of nature is itself a product of culture. What is defined as natural varies across different historical and cultural contexts, demonstrating that the relationship between these terms is not one-sided or unidirectional.1

Derrida’s goal was not to invert the hierarchy—by claiming culture is truly prior to nature—but to "displace" the opposition entirely. By showing that neither term is independent or primary, he revealed that the binary is a "construction" of the text rather than a reflection of an objective reality. This analysis serves to dismantle the assumption that philosophical concepts can be grounded in an origin existing outside of language and representation.12