Reading Rousseau’s Origin and Foundations of Inequality … Twice!

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Using the strategy laid out in Mortimer Adler’s classic How to Read a Book, this course is devoted to developing a solid understanding of Rousseau’s Discourse on the Origin and Foundations of Inequality (aka: The Second Discourse) by reading it once quickly to get an overview and then again more slowly to figure out the details. Along the way, we’ll pay careful attention to the literary, religious, and philosophical features that are woven together in the Enlightenment’s greatest account of “The Fall of Man” and a work that helped paved the way for the French Revolution and the development of Communism.

Texts
  • Rousseau, Discourse on the Origin and Foundations of Inequality [The Second Discourse]
  • Adler and Van Doren, How to Read a Book: The Classic Guide
    to Intelligent Reading [OPTIONAL]
TAUGHT: AUTUMN 2023