A Discourse on the Sciences and the Arts
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Jean-Jacques Rousseau's essay, A Discourse on the Sciences and the Arts (1750), argues that the advancement of science and arts has corrupted humanity rather than purified it. Rousseau posited that humans are naturally good, but society and civilization have led them astray, becoming more harmful as they grew more sophisticated. He believed that vices emerged with the formation of societies, contrasting with Thomas Hobbes's view of a brutish state of nature. Rousseau's work suggests a decline from an initial state of primitive innocence to a corrupt sophistication, with the introduction of property marking a significant step toward inequality and the necessity of law and government. This essay set the stage for his later works, including The Social Contract.123
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