EconTalk · Russ Roberts

Leon Kass on the Wisdom of Rousseau

June 16, 2025·1 hr 17 min·5 clips

Rousseau argues that our innovations become 'yokes' we impose on ourselves, transforming desires into cruel necessities.

Host Russ Roberts interviews Leon Kass about Jean-Jacques Rousseau's 'Discourse on Inequality,' exploring how civilization transforms human nature, creates false needs, and fosters social vices like vanity and jealousy, with insights into modern discontent and psychological roots of conflict.

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