Impact Of The Enlightenment On Modern Political Thought

The word Social Contract theory was first used by Thomas Hobbes to define royal authority. However John Locke who wrote the two treaties on government” in the 1680’s reinforce the meaning of a new social contract theory. In his version of social contract, he stated “men surrendered a part of their right to govern them selves in order to enjoy the benefits of the rule of law”(Foner, 149). In his argument, natural right such as life, liberty and proper play a huge role. According to Locke, Government or political system is form by equal individuals (mainly men of a household). Although men surrendered part of their right to govern to enjoy the benefits of the rule of law, they do retain the natural right of protecting of liberty, life and property against any local or foreign enemies. According to Locke and the

I believe the Enlightenment was, in general, a good thing. It was a reaction to the centuries of religious wars in Europe. The Enlightenment called for the use of reason and the spreading of knowledge. It emphasized the power of human reason to shape the world, and to better educated men and women.

The Enlightenment influenced the American Revolution with many ideas and concepts. Enlightenment philosophers believed in different structures of living such as natural rights, freedom from oppression, and innovative ways. Modern day America is ifluenced by liberty, equality and justice. Ideas from the Enlightment can be found in important documents from the revolution and passed it.

Both the Enlightenment and the Great awakening caused the colonists to alter their views about government, the role of government, as well as society at large which ultimately and collectively helped to motivate the colonists to revolt against England. The Enlightenment was vital in almost every part of the founding of America, which included everything from government, to politics itself, as well as religion. Many of the ideas from the Enlightenment and the Great Awakening shaped our country as a whole in its seminal years, inspiring everything from the American Revolution, to the Constitution, and even electricity and stoves. Without the central ideas and figures of both the Great Awakening and the Enlightenment era, the United States

The Enlightenment had a profound effect on the declaration of independence and the constitution. There are many ideas and principles that were created during the enlightenment that inspired the founding fathers. Ideas such as separation of powers, liberalism, and that government is supposed to protect the natural rights all came around during the enlightenment. These ideas had a major influence in why we declared independence from England and how we formed The United States of America. These ideas had major influence on America because they are the principles on which america was founded.

Halfway through the 18th century, the republican government began to establish new ideals that left a lasting impression on America. Using the momentum from the Enlightenment and the Great Awakening, the Founding Fathers established the ideals of liberty, unalienable rights, rejection of monarchy and inherited political power, and independence. These ideals were an integral part of America’s civic thought. The Enlightenment and the Great Awakening greatly influenced the republic ideals of America by emphasizing the importance of reason and virtue, stressing that religion, reason, and virtue can coexist, and changing the colonists’ views of politics, religion, and humanity.

Aristotle provides very unique and compelling arguments for what he believes to be the ideal form of government for a city-state, but because of the time period he was alive, he did not have the necessary knowledge to realize how limited his view of human nature was. Due to its limited power and sole purpose being to protect individuals’ right to own property, which in turn allows individuals to live happy lives, Locke’s form of government is more

Between the 17th and 18th century, Enlightenment ideas that originated from France spread to other parts of Europe. Prior to the Enlightenment, absolute monarchs ruled most of Europe. Over time, citizens began to question the monarch’s power with ideas from philosophes such as Voltaire and John Locke. The philosophers concluded that society’s problems could be solved using a method of logic and reason. Also known as the Age of Reason, the Enlightenment inspired societal change and evolution. Through the use of logic and reason, enlightened despots of the 18th century were influenced by the social, political, and economic aspects of the Enlightenment.

In the Constitution we also see a lot Enlightenment ideas come into play as well. The idea from Rousseau, Montesquieu, Voltaire, and Beccaria. One of the ideas we see is from Rousseau, which is the idea of Popular Sovereignty. This states that the authority of the government is created for and by its citizens. Basically, the people are the ultimate rulers, and can rule themselves or pull other people in for them to do it themselves. This idea that the real and true power lies with the people is a big idea of the Enlightenment and pushed into the Constitution. Rousseau also believed that a republican form of government, in which the people choose their representatives and who they want involved in the government was an ideal form of government. Another Enlightenment idea that is very prevalent in the Constitution was the ideas of Montesquieu and the separation of powers/checks and balances. This man heavily shaped our government. In his thoughts, each branch of government was to be separate and each have their own independent powers. He believed in this

The enlightenment period in America played a big part in helping shape the American revolution. Wether it was regarding such ideas as “9 out of 10 men are born good or evil, useful or not because of their education” (John Locke). Or Rousseau’s ideas of society being the destroyer of itself and all the time needing to change itself in order to survive The biggest ideas used from the enlightenment period, were ideas regarding things like religion, governments. These ideas of the enlightenment where the sparks which ended up igniting things like the American declaration of independence. Which then sparked things like Abraham Lincolns abolishment of slavery.

Many great minds during the Enlightenment era shaped the government of the U.S. today. These Enlightenment thinkers had thoughts on how people needed to be governed in order to prevent anarchy of the people. When the United States was just being created, the men who helped create the Declaration of Independence were influenced by ideas of these Enlightenment thinkers that lived hundreds of years before them. The United States new they need to provide of their people and for themselves but all at the same time, creating laws that allow for this control to exist.

Philosophers such as John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau both created systems in what they believed the ideal government should look like. In the Second Treatise on Government, “Locke held that human beings are born with natural rights of life, liberty, and property; they establish the state to protect these rights”. John Locke’s view on government conceptualizes the idea of the natural rights: life, liberty and property. It conveys that every citizen is born with natural rights and that the government is morally obligated to uphold them. By pushing for rights and freedom, Locke convinced people to think about self-upliftment, which establishes that the people should fight for justice. Rousseau, on the other hand brings more of an idea that the government ought to serve the general will, using his social contract. “The clauses of this contract...the total alienation of each associate, together with all of his rights, to a whole community” (The Social Contract). By having a utilitarian approach, Rousseau believes that the general will of the population supercedes every other criteria, meaning that with anything that the government does, it must have the people’s consent. This ideology reinforced ‘no taxation without representation’, as the people began to believe that it is their right to decide what is just. However, none of these ideas could have impacted

Such events changed the English government and the conflict between the monarch and Parliament has produced new ideas about the government. These new ideas were part of a larger cultural movement in Europe known today as the Enlightenment. During the 1600s, the scientific discoveries were led to believe that God created an orderly universe, while some citizens believed that its laws could be discovered through human reasoning and logic. Many of these influential leaders wanted to apply the laws that ruled nature to people and society. These new ideas played a big role in the affect of political thinking in Europe and the America. Another way that the Enlightenment helped to shape some of the colonies was in the terms of religion and prayer. The Great Awakening was known as a new understanding of America’s relationship to God and the Church. Instead of one dominate and powerful church, Protestant ideals based on Enlightenment principles of free will and freedom from institutions were allowed by people to choose a membership in a specific church rather than being forced into one. During the Enlightenment, the colonies were still very religious but believed that they used the ideas of

The enlightenment still continues to be influential in modern times, especially pertaining to government and society. The different ideas created by various philosophers during the Enlightenment still have an impact on Western democracy today.

The original Social Contract tradition has had many authors, but for the purposes of this paper I will focus on John Locke’s work as one political system that might be used by a nation and the problems it entails that would have to be discussed for modern uses. Locke begins by describing a state of nature that entails equality and a state of perfect freedom for mankind to live as they want within the laws of nature (Locke 2009, 370). Locke’s work argues for his view of property, where a man has the right to the fruits of his labor but not to another man’s (Locke 2009, 372). In his view, the government is meant to prevent on man from seeking punishment that is unfit for the committed crime and that people join together for protection for themselves and their property (Locke 2009, 371-372). He argues also that no one man should be in charge and that a democracy should be used instead (Locke 2009, 371).