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Audiobook of Jean-Jacques Rousseau's Discourse on the Sciences and the Arts. In 1749, the Academy of Dijon posed the following question in the form of a competition: does the reestablishment of the sciences and the arts contribute to purifying morals? Encouraged by his friend Diderot (with whom he would later fall out), Rousseau decided to participate in the competition. One could expect Rousseau to become the defender of the sciences and the arts which, in the Age of Enlightenment, seemed to have the task of enlightening the world. However, the philosopher made the opposite choice and became a moralist, extolling the simple life of the Spartans or the first Romans whose virtue was lost with the development of the sciences, the arts and luxury. Rousseau won the prize and thus rose to fame. Reader: Colomban Illustration: portrait of Rousseau by Quentin de La Tour