Jean-Jacques Rousseau - Discourse on the Origin and the Foundations of Inequality Among Men. Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778), the very famous French philosopher and writer, prepared his Discourse on Inequality (also called the Second Discourse) as an entry in a competition organized by the Academy of Dijon in 1754. He had won first prize in a previous competition (in 1750) with his Discourse on the Sciences and the Arts (the First Discourse), a victory which had helped to make him famous. The Second Discourse did not fare so well in the contest. When the Second Discourse was published again in 1782, Rousseau inserted a few short minor additions into the text. These are included here but are not indicated. Discourse on the Origin and the Foundations of Inequality Among Men by Jean-Jacques Rousseau Citizen of Geneva We ought to think about what is natural not in things which are corrupt but in things which are well ordered by nature. Aristotle, Politics, I, 5.