Transcript Enlightenment:

A new way of thinking!!!
King James I
The Absolute Monarch
King James I - Stuart Family
 King of England from 1603–1625
 Proclaimed the Divine Right of Kings Theory
 Kings are Chosen by God
 Born with Power
 Kings are only accountable to God, not to any
person.
 Subjects who argue with the King are committing
blasphemy against God.
 Implications?
Thomas Hobbes
John Locke
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Social Contract Theorists
 Emerged during the
period of
Enlightenment.
 As other scientists were
questioning math and
science, some theorists
were questioning
assumptions about
government.
What is a social
contract?
An agreement among people
defining the rights and duties
of individuals with each
other and with the government.
Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679)
 Hobbes challenged
Divine Right Theory
 Did not challenge
Monarchy - Any
government is better
than no government.
 Why? Must examine
the State of Nature:
Life without
institutions, a primitive
state before
governments.
Hobbes and the State of Nature
 Wrote the Leviathan
 Pessimistic - Man in the
state of nature is essentially
equal and at “war”
 Without government, life
would be “solitary, poor,
nasty, brutish, and short.”
 A constant struggle to
survive against the evil of
others
Hobbes and the Social Contract
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Out of fear, people want to be ruled.
People enter into a social contract with the
government.
People give up rights and liberties in order to control
society and to safeguard property.
Individual obedience is necessary in order to stop
the greater evil of an endless state of war.
John Locke
 English
 1632-1704
 An Essay
Concerning
Human
Understanding
 Second Treatise
of Civil
Government
Locke and the State of Nature
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State of perfect freedom and equality no king has the
power to void those rights
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All human beings in their natural state were equal and
free to pursue life, health, liberty and possessions
(inalienable rights).
In this state, everyone is the judge and jury.
Creates problems – Gov’t remedies these problems.
Governments allow man to pursue his goals more
efficiently.
Locke
and the Social Contract
 Men enter into a social contract with the government
to preserve life, liberty and property and to assure
justice.
 From this state of nature people would not choose an
absolute monarchy, they choose a society governed by
standing laws, with power distributed among different
groups.
 If the government acts improperly it breaks the
contract with the people. Revolution in some
circumstances is not only a right, it is an obligation.
Review the Views on the
Social Contract
 Hobbes: the social contract restricts conflict in the
state of nature by surrendering power and
instituting justice.
 Locke: the social contract carries man from the
state of nature to be governed in order to preserve
liberties and property rights.
 Now…
 Rousseau: the social contract limits the power of
the state and brings citizens closer to the state of
nature.
Jean Jacques Rousseau
 Swiss - French
 1712-1778
 On The Social Contract,
1762
Rousseau and the State of Nature
 “Man is born free, but everywhere he is in
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chains.” (Thesis)
Natural State is freedom, but people in
modern states are not free. Why?
The only natural society is the family.
Man in the state of nature may have been
solitary, but he was healthy, happy, good,
free and equal.
Problems begin when people form
societies.
Original “tribal” societies were alright,
but the introduction of property created
inequality and jealousy.
Cannot return to the natural state so we
form governments to restore some of our
freedoms.
Rousseau and the Social Contract
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The sovereign exists to safeguard the
citizens, and the social contract is an
agreement among the people.
People renounce their natural rights
Rights are redefined and individuals gain
civil rights as citizens of the community.
People give up their personal will for the
general will.
Government is only legitimate through
agreement and people must periodically
revisit the laws, and renew their consent.
Ideal state is small enough to allow the
citizens to know one another.
The state has legitimate power only if it
obeys the general will.
Montesquieu’s ideas
of
Separation of Powers
and
Checks and Balances
influenced the
framers of the
Constitution.
Montesquieu
 “On The Spirit of Laws” 1748
 Admired British system
 Separation of governmental powers into
three divisions
 the executive, who carries out (executes) the
laws
 the legislative, who makes the laws,
 and the judicial, who interprets the laws.
 Tyranny can be avoided by dividing
political power among different groups.
(Separation of Powers)
 Tyranny can be avoided by keeping watch
on the other branches of government
(checks and balances)
 These would prevent anyone from
gaining a monopoly of power.
Review
 Summarize the social
 What is the Divine Right
contract.
 List the social contract
philosophers.
 What is the
Enlightenment?
of Kings Theory?
 List other Enlightenment
philosophers and their
contributions.
 Describe the two main
ideas contributed by
Montesquieu.
 What did it change?
 Where can these ideas
be traced?