Modern Philosophy, Deception, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Social History, Moral Philosophy
Abstract
Falsehood or imposture are key terms of Rousseau’s entire work, from the early Discours to the Contrat social, from the Confessions to the Emile. Through these terms Rousseau aims at showing the transition from nature to culture, from a primitive condition to society. In his thought, the foundation of any society, and the distinctive principle which differentiates human beings from the other animal species, is the result of an imposture, of a power abuse, namely of a complex and perverse process which produces the legitimization of inequality among mankind.
