A Shaper of Revolutions

In his “Discourse on the Origins and Foundations of Inequality among Men,” Rousseau sets in place a way of thinking that will set in motion a new era: the era of Revolutions.

Rousseau in and of himself is not a particularly revolutionary in his writing. He does not call for any specific change or upheaval of governmental regimes. But as an author of the Enlightenment, his writings did revolutionize the way we think.

“Discourse” is an extremely historical piece. More so than in others before him, Rousseau looked to the past as a frame of reference for change. He analyzes man’s beginning and then tracks his social progress. He dissects piece by piece the habits and norms that over time have made civilized society what it is—a heyday for inequality.

Unlike more revolutionary writers, Rousseau does not go on to make a judgment statement on this fact. He does not outwardly condemn or praise the current social systems of his time. But he does pose this one fact: things don’t have to be this way. There is no mantra more revolutionary than “things can change.” It is little wonder that what he delivered so dispassionately was accepted with such fervor.

His neutral stance also works in favor of his timeless application. His writings, historical and impartial in nature, give him a sense of ethos. He doesn't have the same kind of agenda that the revolutionary writers did, he is not a polarizing figure amongst revolutionaries with vastly differing ideologies. His writings can be trusted. And as a result, he was able to influence countless revolutions. It’s ironic that “Discourse,” so non-epideictic in nature, engendered itself to some of the most epideictic writers of all time.

But perhaps we have kairos to thank for that. As an Enlightenment thinker writing on the very cusp of the age of revolutions, Rousseau wrote to a world prepped for change. Descartes had taught man to think and know for himself. Man was beginning to apply this to government, and here Rousseau provided a framework for men to work within, here was a way that they could organize and analyze their thoughts.

By so methodically going back through history step-by-step, Rousseau creates a clear argument for why going back to history is important. His treatment of history leaves no doubt that patterns can be found within history; through use of antecedent and consequence he lays out how modernity came to be. By proving history’s worth, he changes the face of rhetoric, shaping revolutionary and political writing up to the modern day. The modern dogma that the past must be studied in order to avoid repeating it is one that can be traced back to Rousseau.