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Rousseau (1755), "Discourse on Inequality" and the invention of the idea of the noble savage

Jean-Jacques Rousseau1755/1755

Grotte Chauvet - UNESCO World Heritage Site

Grotte Chauvet - UNESCO World Heritage Site
Vallon-Pont-d'Arc, France

Rousseau believed that the savage stage was not the first stage of human development, but the third stage. Rousseau held that this third savage stage of human societal development was an optimum, between the extreme of the state of brute animals and animal-like "ape-men" on the one hand and the extreme of decadent civilized life on the other. This has led some critics to attribute to Rousseau the invention of the idea of the noble savage

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  • Title: Rousseau (1755), "Discourse on Inequality" and the invention of the idea of the noble savage
  • Creator: J.-J. rousseau (1712-1778)
  • Date Created: 1755/1755
Grotte Chauvet - UNESCO World Heritage Site

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