Publisher's Synopsis
In the mid-eighteenth century, a little-known writer from Geneva seized the spotlight with a bold claim that upended the Enlightenment's sunny faith in progress. Jean-Jacques Rousseau's first major work, the Discourse on the Sciences and Arts, opens with the startling argument that civilization's refinements in knowledge and culture have not elevated human virtue at all, but instead have subtly undermined it.
In 1750, Rousseau composed this essay (titled in French "Discours sur les sciences et les arts") in response to a challenge posed by the Academy of Dijon, which had asked whether the revival of arts and sciences improved public morals. His eloquent answer-arguing that modern progress corrupts rather than purifies-won the academy's prize and vaulted Rousseau to sudden fame across France, sparking lively debate. Appearing at the height of the Enlightenment, the work's counterintuitive verdict shocked a society enamored with reason and refinement, marking a radical entrance for a new philosophical voice.
First published in 1750 after it won a prize from the Academy of Dijon, the Discourse on the Sciences and Arts announced Rousseau's arrival as a bold new voice in French letters. In this concise yet sweeping essay, written in elegant 18th-century prose, he contends that the proud advancement of learning and refinement has ushered in decadence and hypocrisy instead of true virtue.
Often referred to simply as the "First Discourse," this work introduced a theme that would run through all of Rousseau's later writings: the idea that humanity's natural innocence is spoiled by the artificial polish of society. The essay's paradoxical critique of Enlightenment culture drew both admiration and indignation in salons across Europe; Voltaire famously mocked Rousseau for praising savagery even as he wrote in refined French. Yet the bold stance and lucid style of the Discourse on the Sciences and Arts won Rousseau instant recognition, and its core question-whether progress actually makes people better-echoed through the debates of the era, presaging the deeper explorations he would undertake in later works.
