Jean Jacques Rousseau in Discourse on the Origin of Inequality discusses two types of inequality, natural or physical and ethical or political. He also argues that inequalities of rank, wealth and power are the inevitable result of the civilizing process. This type of inequality is established by convention. The text was written in 1754 in response to a prize competition of the Academy of Dijon answering the prompt: What is the origin of inequality among men, and is it authorized by natural law?

《论人类不平等的起源和基础》是应征1755年第戎学院的征文。文中把原始社会当作黄金时代加以描绘，歌颂人类的自然状态，指出人类不平等起源于私有观念的产生和私有财产的出现。这篇论文可谓其整个政治学说的导言。