Jean-Jacques Rousseau was a Genevan philosopher, philosophe, and writer who made significant contributions to the Enlightenment era. He was also a musician, naturalist, polymath, and interested in botany.

Among his notable philosophical works is 'Discours sur les sciences et les arts', for which he won a prize from the academy of Dijon. In this work, Rousseau critiqued civilization, viewing it as a world of decay.