In the Confessions Rousseau provides a very helpful account of the composition of the Discourse on Inequality (as he calls the Second Discourse). This account contains two elements that prefigure the work's reputation among scholars today. First, Rousseau says that, while in his earlier works he had only partially revealed the basis of his thought, the question posed by the Academy of Dijon offered him the occasion to develop his principles, “completely in a work of the greatest importance.” A few pages later he confirms the importance of the Discourse by saying, “Everything that is bold in the Social Contract was previously in the Discourse on Inequality.” A consensus of scholars would, I think, agree that the Discourse is, indeed, a particularly bold work and the first place to look for a rigorous exposition of Rousseau's principles.