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Jean-Jacques Rousseau's work centers around the idea that civilization ultimately leads to moral decline. He states that when humans pass from a state of nature to a civil state justice is substituted for instinct and they adopt morals. By this he means that no longer do humans act on impulses, but they actually begin to act out of principle. Rousseau notes that when man abandons the state of nature he abandons the unrestricted right to whatever he wants when he wants it, but he gains civil liberty as well as proprietary ownership of his property.

Not only are property rights transformed, but also the nature of man is changed. Rousseau writes that as man enters a civil society his very soul benefits and he has new rejuvenated ideas and feelings and can only then be considered intelligent and above animals. Only when man rejects nature and embraces a civil society, where he will refuse his impulses and adopt morals, can he experience these changes.

In Rousseau's works he notes respect for Greece and Rome because, at that stage, the two civilizations had not succumbed to the arts and sciences, which he considered to be detrimental to society. Rousseau writes that in Greece citizens were forbidden to engage in "tranquil and sedentary professions" as these professions, according to Rousseau, spoiled the body and drained the soul. This was especially true of Sparta, a society that placed utmost importance on soldiers and efficient citizens.

The same was true for republican Rome. Rousseau comments that even Romans admit that their virtue died as the arts began to prevail in the civilization. Rome was a society known for their pragmatism, which left little room for luxury, laziness and the arts. This is the type of society Rousseau admired.

Rousseau sees society of his day as falling to the ills of the arts and sciences. He claims that quality replaced practicality, talent replaced integrity and that artists replaced citizens. Throughout his essay Rousseau comments on civilizations that collapsed following the introduction of arts and sciences, thus predicting an unfortunate fate for his own society.

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