Abstract

This paper attempts to understand the Bible through the philosophical lens of Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s Discourse on the Origin and Foundations of Inequality Among Men, commonly referred to as his "Second Discourse." By first explaining the concepts crucial to striking arguments presented throughout the Second Discourse, my work then synthesizes this with the origin story found in the book of Genesis. As is commonly referred to, Genesis depicts humanity’s “fall from grace,” or the moment in which original sin was instituted among our species following the transition from a natural state, marking the beginning of a period in human history constituted by a freedom from God’s divine authority. In doing so, I have arrived at a greater understanding of the Rousseauian framework of thought and have challenged my previous assumptions on this origin story described by the Bible, thereby gaining insight into what is arguably the most consequential text in the western world and how political thought has been developed throughout history following Rousseau’s tradition.