_Discourses._—In his _Discourse concerning the Arts and Sciences_ Rousseau insists that our outward lives should be true expressions of our inner feelings. This harmony between expression and feeling began its decline under the influences of overrefinement and of tastes that had been distorted by excessive civilization. Therefore, he argues, it is the common man, the crude rustic, rather than the polished and elegant courtier who reveals his heart in all purity; we may deal with this common man without suspicions, fears, reserves, and treacheries. It was the simplicity of ancient times when men lived in a primitive state that bred innocence and virtue, courage and genuine humanity. In this discourse there is in general a pointed attack upon literary and scientific training and polish. The discourse which deals with the inequality of man is based in general upon the same doctrine which furnishes the ground for the attack on the sciences and the arts. It attempts to show us what men would have been had they remained in their original state. This original state was one in which man lived much like the dumb animals; forests and rocks, running brooks and springs, furnished abode by day and bed and shelter for the night, and among these were to be found the meat and drink which produced strong healthy bodies; bodies robust because their nourishment was simple. This was a primitive state which had remained true to nature by not advancing at all or at least not more than a single degree beyond the original. In such a state man by reason of both his physical hardiness and his native animal instincts and alertness has all his faculties, these operating with a force and fineness unknown to the highly civilized man. Here, as in the essay on the social contract, the philosopher is opposed to a superior ruling power and arbitrary establishment of laws. _Social contract._—In the _Social Contract_ in which Rousseau’s social state is presented as the superior form of government, men had been brought to realize their dependence upon one another and to know that co-operation was the true basis of welfare. The doctrine of individuality which made of man a self-centered unit was weak in that it offered little protection for the individual. For this individual, born with natural freedom, was in danger of exercising this freedom to the detriment of the rights of others. In giving up himself and his rights to the group, the individual became subject to no one person, but gained certain rights over each member of the community. In this compact there is a union of individuals, each working for the good of the body politic, each a sovereign with civil liberty and moral freedom. Thus the restrictions which would be imposed upon members of society by one supreme authority were avoided. By this means the general will worked for the general good of humanity.