Jean Jacques Rousseau's Analysis

As proud homo sapiens, all too often in life, we feel as if we know it all and have all the answers. After all, aren’t we as humans evolutionarily gifted from all other creatures? But despite our hubris, we as mortal men know a minute percentage of the wealth of knowledge in the world, and much of what we think we know — primarily ingrained via socialization — is utter falsehood. As evidenced by the works of Socrates and Rousseau — as well as through occurrences and personal experiences — much of what we assume to be the truth is far from it in reality, and the vast majority of our species have very little comprehension of what lurks inside each and every one of us. Before we examine who we are, we must understand where we come from. In his essay, Discourse on the Origin and Foundations of Inequality Among Men, noted philosopher Jean Jacques Rousseau uses this tenet in his preface to begin probing the beginning of mankind and the evolution of our species from savage animals to members of today’s generation. While we often take society as we know it as a given, life wasn’t always as complex as it is in the present era. Before the advent of society, Rousseau envisions man as a similar creature to the members of the Animal Kingdom. Spurred by the opposing traits of pity — which fosters social

In both works, the commoners have been brainwashed by religious doctrines ingrained in them from Athenian society. In their world, a bevy of “Gods” exist and it is mankind’s duty to fulfill their will. But the falsehood of this socio-religious structure is fundamentally flawed, as evidenced when Euthyphro repeatedly fails to articulate an acceptable definition of “piety” to Socrates. At one point, Euthypro claims that “Piety, then, is that which is dear to the gods, and impiety is that which is not dear to