How does the nature-versus-culture opposition appear in Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s writings?

In the context of deconstruction, the nature-versus-culture opposition is viewed as a hierarchical binary where "nature" is traditionally privileged as primary or fundamental, while "culture" is seen as secondary or derivative.12

In the writings of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, this opposition appears through his depiction of society and culture as corrupting forces that emerged from an idyllic, peaceful "state of nature". Rousseau posits that humans were originally solitary, healthy, and free, and that vices and inequality only developed as people formed societies and became dependent on one another. Thus, in his work, nature is chronologically and morally prior to culture.1345

Deconstructive analysis, however, challenges this hierarchy by noting that the very concept of "nature" is a product of culture; what is defined as "natural" varies depending on the cultural context of the time. Rather than simply inverting the hierarchy to favor culture, deconstruction seeks to displace the opposition entirely, revealing that the relationship between the two terms is not one-sided but mutually dependent.12