Major Political Philosophers

Enlightenment Thinkers In terms of the American political system the most significant of the theories developed during the Enlightenment is that of the “social contract” developed by seventeenth and eighteenth century philosophers. It challenged the theory of the Divine Right of Kings.

Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) In Leviathan (1651) Hobbes wrote that man in a “state of nature” had no government and thus, absolute freedom; all people were equal, but life was “cruel, brutish, and short.” Govenrnments must have been formed by people surrendering power to the state to maintain order and provide security. This contract with the government could not be broken by the people. Though Hobbes believed that a strong monarchy was the best form of government, his ideas undermined the theory of Divine Right.

John Locke (1632-1704) in Two Treatises on Civil Government (1690) , Locke wrote that the social contract creates a limited government which relies on the “consent of the governed.” Government’s job is to secure people’s natural rights (life, liberty, and property) which all people have because these freedoms were given to all humans by God. If government fails to preserve the rights of the people, the people could justly break the contract. These ideas of his were very influential in developing American political thought: Natural law, which human reason comprehends, provided all humans with life, liberty and the ability to acquire property The state should protect individual rights Citizens could/should rebel against unjust governments (government by consent) Religion should be free from government interference

Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) French philosopher who wrote in The Social Contract (1762) that people alone had the right to determine how they should be governed, and that the main duty of government should be to maintain as much freedom as possible in a civilized society. He believed politics and morality are not separate He argued that the state is created to preserve freedom, and government is a contract between the ruler and citizens He believed the great question of government was how to make it strong enough to protect, but not strong enough to oppress.

Charles de Secondat, the Baron de Montesquieu (1689-1755) French philosopher who wrote in The Spirit of the Laws (1748) that no one person should make, enforce, and interpret the laws, proposing a division of government powers into three separate branches with different duties (separation of powers) and the ability of each to check the others’ powers (checks and balances)