Notes on Enlightenment Philosophers (under construction)

THOMAS HOBBES

• People are naturally violent, selfish,  etc, and therefore need an absolute monarchy form of government to maintain order.

• Realizing this, people have voluntarily turned over power to the absolute monarch; this arrangement Hobbes called the SOCIAL CONTRACT.

JOHN LOCKE

• Every human being is born with certain God-given NATURAL, INALIENABLE RIGHTS.

• These rights include the right to life, liberty, property and the pursuit of happiness (that was Jefferson's contribution when he plagiarized Locke for our Dec. of Independence!)

• Government represents a SOCIAL CONTRACT between the ruler and the people.

• If the ruler breaks the contract by abusing peoples' natural rights, they have the RIGHT TO REBEL and replace the ruler.

VOLTAIRE

• one of the French PHILOSOPHES.

• Emphasized the importance of individual CIVIL LIBERTIES, like freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of thought, etc.

• Famous quote: I do not agree with a word you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.

• Favored an ENLIGHTENED MONARCH for a government (that means, basically, a monarch who shared Voltaire's enlightened views!)

MONTESQUIEU

• another Philosophe

• Stressed importance of SEPARATION OF POWERS in three different branches (legislative, executive, judicial)

• Wanted CHECKS AND BALANCES to prohibit any one branch of government from abusing its power (an example would be, in our system, the way the President can veto a law passed by Congress)

ROUSSEAU

• Philosophe

• Said that ALL PEOPLE ARE EQUAL and therefore opposed the existence of a privileged hereditary nobility in European society.

• Ideal government would be a TOTAL DEMOCRACY, where all issues are voted on by all members of the society and the majority rules.  (He called this the GENERAL WILL, and this was his version of the SOCIAL CONTRACT.