From Natural Freedom to Civil Inequality: The Historical Origins of Social Dependence in Rousseau’s Thought

Abstract

This article examines the origins of civil society through Rousseau’s historical investigation of human nature, social development, and inequality. Rousseau begins from the state of nature in which humans are independent and self-sufficient. The capacity for perfectibility allows them to adapt to changing conditions, but it also makes their departure from the original state possible. The article follows this movement through the formation of social comparison, the growth of private property, and the establishment of political institutions. It argues that Rousseau does not consider civil society a natural or predetermined fulfilment of human development. Civil society emerges through accidental historical changes and eventually protects inequalities created by property and dependence. Rousseau’s critique is therefore directed towards the loss of freedom and the legal consolidation of inequality under the appearance of social order.