Q0254
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
A verified English rendering from the curated archive.
English
The first man who, having enclosed a piece of ground, thought of saying 'This is mine'…was the true founder of civil society.
Source context
This English passage is associated with Discourse on Inequality, Part II, within the tradition of Enlightenment. The wording below is a verified rendering prepared for careful reading rather than a claim of unique translation authority.
A short reading
Read in the register of wealth, the sentence asks the reader to test an assumption rather than to collect a slogan. In Jean-Jacques Rousseau's wider work, similar claims are usually offered as prompts for judgment: what would have to be true for the sentence to hold, and what would follow if it did?
How to cite this quotation
APA: Jean-Jacques Rousseau. (n.d.). The first man who, having enclosed a piece of ground, thought of saying 'This is mine'…was the true founder of civil society. In Philosophy Blind Box. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0254
MLA: Jean-Jacques Rousseau. “The first man who, having enclosed a piece….” Philosophy Blind Box, https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0254.
Chicago: Jean-Jacques Rousseau. “The first man who, having enclosed a piece….” Philosophy Blind Box. Accessed 2026. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0254.