Social inequality seen from its origin
Introduction
In the following text we will talk and synthesize the concept of social inequality. For that we are going to cite and analyze the discourse of the philosopher Jean Jacques Rouseau whose work was entitled as “speech on the origin and foundations of inequality between men” and where it exposes the origin as indicated by its title and the main causes ofinequality among men.
Developing
To achieve a much clearer understanding of the concept of human inequality or social inequality which starts from the same point, we are going to move to the 1754 years, exactly to Paris. It is there where one of the most famous speeches is published and which is the main theme of this document, "speech on the origin and foundations of inequality among men" of the philosopher Rouseau.
In this Rouseau speech, it gives us an extensive explanation of what are the origins of inequality and how man, an even primitive man was developing and, so to speak, evolving in the way he interacted with his environment and with his fellow men.
Based on discourse, this exposes us that there are only two types of inequalities: natural inequality and moral or political inequality.
Then I make textual speech to give the exact definition that Rosseau offers on these inequalities.
“You cannot ask what is the source of natural inequality because the response would be stated already in the simple definition of the word. Even less can be sought if there would be no essential link between one and another inequality, because this would be equivalent to asking in other terms if those who send are necessarily better than what they obey, and if the strength of the body or the spirit, wisdom or thevirtue, they are always found in the same individuals in proportion to their power or wealth;question by perhaps to be dissent between slaves in the presence of their masters, but that does not suit reason and free men seeking the truth.”(Rousseau, 1775).
Synthesizing this first definition we can say that political or moral inequality comes mainly from us, and it is we who constitute it. But not because of the fact that the man is free free and with the ability to make his own decisions this meant that he can violate or go over the freedom of the other men.
This is why it is necessary that the same men restrict their freedoms and control their most intimate wishes to be able to live and coexist in society, and that is where inequalities begin to emerge.
Supporting this point of view I refer to Adela Cortina in her text "which is ethics". “Many times in the ethical world I am myself who criticize my choices and then I have to answer for them before myself, but when you wave elections they have a social impact, I have to respond to society and that is why I have to measure my steps very well". It is at this time that inequalities begins to emerge, since there is always a dominated, and a dominant one who refuses to limit himself and get his wishes.
Continuing with the speech, Rousseau in its first part this tells us about the primitive, totally natural man and which his main difference with animals is his ability to resist the natural instinct of all species. Obviously, it is nature that governs all species including the human.
Man is the only species that can be taken the freedom to follow or not to this natural instinct and decide on his own, thus separating it from the other species that are fully conditioned by nature. This is not the only characteristic that makes man special, because he has an ability to improve with experiences, ability that other species do not have.
In the first men we did not find other type of inequality other than natural inequality, since man was a self-sufficient being and did not have the need for others to survive, in addition to this there was no pride, vanity or any other typeof adjective that could trigger in some degree of inequality. Thus, concluding with the first part of the speech we can visualize a man without an industry, without language, without private property and without the need of his peers and to the point of not recognizing his relatives or his parents, this man only saw his need, I only saw what I wanted to see and I could not distinguish the concept well and badly, it only acted on the need for self-sufficiency.
It is in the second part of this speech where we can analyze the definitive roots of social inequality, since Rousseau gives us a total description of how the primitive man, step of being a totally isolated being and began to join with his fellow matters mature each timeplus relations in addition to the the usos that made certain men be together and settled in the same place. As Rousseau expresses “everything starts changing his appearance. Errantes so far in forests, men, having acquired a more stable situation, are slowly relating, gather in various groupings and finally form a particular nation in each region, united in their customs and characters, not by regulations and laws,but for the same genre of life and food and the influence of the weather. A permanent neighborhood cannot stop engendering in the end of any relationship between different families."
And that is where a type of germ begins to emerge in man that we can define how property was at the time when the man expressed "this is mine" where the door of social inequality opened, thus turningto man in a being that was measured by the ability to possess and not to be. The rich or the person who achieved the accumulation of goods and properties, had the need to protect their assets from those who did not have and thus began to generate a type of laws or policies in favor of a very small group which only sought thebenefit of a few, but making others believe that it was for a common benefit
conclusion
Rousseau gives us an excellent work to understand the origin of inequality and where at the end of having read the speech, it can be ensured that the point of where inequality originated as such, was in the constitution of private property, because ofThis was born the dilemma of those they had and those who did not have, the demands, luxuries and vanities were born making man totally focused on obtaining benefits and wealth, regardless of having to submit another man to another man.
We stop being a wild man to begin to be social men who need others to subsist, we leave aside individualism to enter team or herd beings, but what we can say that arose was a capacity of manto develop their capacities and thus focus on the use of the weakness of the other men for their own benefit.
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