AOB Resource 1N - Social Studies 7th Grade Civics



John Locke

John Locke

John Locke (1632-1704) was an English philosopher and the founder of British empiricism. Locke's two most important works, Essay Concerning Human Understanding and Two Treatises on Civil Government, both published in 1690, quickly established him as the leading philosopher of freedom. In the Essay he opposed the rationalist belief in innate ideas, holding that the mind is born a blank slate upon which all knowledge is inscribed in the form of human experience.

Locke maintained that the original state of nature was happy and characterized by reason and tolerance. He thought all human beings were equal and free to pursue "life, health, liberty, and possessions." The state formed by the social contract was guided by the natural law, which guaranteed those inalienable rights. He set down the policy of checks and balances later followed in the U.S. Constitution. He formulated the doctrine that revolution in some circumstances is not only a right but an obligation. He also argued for broad religious freedom.

Much of the liberal social, economic, and ethical theory of the 18th century was rooted in Locke's social-contract theories. One of the major influences on modern philosophical and political thought, he epitomized the Enlightenment's faith in the middle class, in the new science, and in human goodness.

Adapted from: The Concise Columbia Encyclopedia.Copyright © 1991 by Columbia University Press.

Thomas Hobbes

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Thomas Hobbes

Thomas Hobbes was born in London in 1588. He received his college education at Oxford University in England, where he studied the classics. Hobbes traveled to other European countries several times to meet with scientists and to study different forms of government. During his time outside of England, Hobbes became interested in why people allowed themselves to be ruled and what would be the best form of government for England. Thomas Hobbes originated the concept of the social contract.

In 1651, Hobbes wrote his most famous work, entitled Leviathan in which he argued that all humans are driven by two impulses: fear of death and desire for power. If left unchecked, human beings would act on these impulses and live violent, brutish, inhumane, and solitary lives. In order to keep these impulses in check, human beings, according to Hobbes, drew up a social contract among themselves; the people ceded all authority and sovereignty to a single person in exchange for security from each other and from foreign invaders. The single ruler would control the violent and selfish impulses of individual members in a society through brute force; individuals would lose their liberty, but they would gain security and community. Hobbes did not care what form this single rule might take, whether a monarch or a dictator, only that absolute power was required to keep society together.

Governments were created, according to Hobbes, to protect people from their own selfishness and evil. The best government was one that had the great power of a leviathan, or sea monster. Because the people were only interested in promoting their own self-interests, Hobbes believed democracy - allowing citizens to vote for government leaders - would never work. Hobbes wrote, "All mankind [is in] a perpetual and restless desire for power... that [stops] only in death." Consequently, giving power to the individual would create a dangerous situation that would start a "war of every man against every man" and make life "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short."

Despite his distrust of democracy, Hobbes believed that a diverse group of representatives presenting the problems of the common person would, hopefully, prevent a king from being cruel and unfair. During Hobbes' lifetime, business began to have a big influence on government. Those who could contribute money to the government were given great status, and business interests were very powerful. In order to offset the growing power of business, Hobbes believed that an individual could be heard in government by authorizing a representative to speak on his behalf. In fact, Hobbes came up with the phrase "voice of the people," which meant that one person could be chosen to represent a group with similar views. However, this "voice" was merely heard and not necessarily listened to - final decisions lay with the king.

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Jean Jacques Rousseau

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Jean Jacques Rousseau

Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) was a French philosopher, social and political theorist, musician, botanist, and one of the most eloquent writers of the Age of Enlightenment.

Jean Jacques Rousseau was born in Geneva on June 28, 1712, and was raised by an aunt and uncle following the death of his mother a few days after his birth. He later became a close friend of the French philosopher Denis Diderot, who commissioned him to write articles on music for the French Encyclopédie.

In 1750 Rousseau won the Academy of Dijon award for his Discours sur les sciences et les arts (Discourse on the Sciences and the Arts.) In his prize-winning discourse and in his Discourse on the Origin and Foundation of Inequality Among Mankind (1755; trans. 1761), he expounded the view that science, art, and social institutions have corrupted humankind and that the natural, or primitive, state is morally superior to the civilized state.

In his famous political treatise The Social Contract (1762; trans. 1797) he developed a case for civil liberty in which government and authority are a mutual contract between the authorities and the governed. This contract states that people agree to be ruled only so that their rights, property and happiness are protected by their rulers. Once rulers cease to protect the people, the social contract is broken and the governed are free to choose a new government. This idea would become the primary force in the Declaration of Independence.

Although Rousseau contributed greatly to the movement in Western Europe for individual freedom and against the absolutism of church and state, his conception of the state as the embodiment of the abstract will of the people and his arguments for strict enforcement of political and religious conformity are regarded by some historians as a source of totalitarian ideology.

The spirit and ideas of Rousseau’s work stand midway between the 18th-century Enlightenment, with its passionate defense of reason and individual rights, and early 19th-century romanticism, which defended intense subjective experience against rational thought.

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Baron de Montesquieu

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Baron de Montesquieu

Charles Louis de Secondat was born in Bordeaux, France, in 1689 to a wealthy family. Despite his family's wealth, de Secondat was placed in the care of a poor family during his childhood. He later went to college and studied science and history, eventually becoming a lawyer in the local government. De Secondat's father died in 1713 and he was placed under the care of his uncle, Baron de Montesquieu. The Baron died in 1716 and left de Secondat his fortune, his office as president of the Bordeaux Parliament, and his title of Baron de Montesquieu. He gained fame in 1721 with his Persian Letters, which criticized the lifestyle and liberties of the wealthy French as well as the church. However, Montesquieu's book On the Spirit of Laws, published in 1748, was his most famous work. It outlined his ideas on how government would best work.

Montesquieu believed that all things were made up of rules or laws that never changed. He set out to study these laws scientifically with the hope that knowledge of the laws of government would reduce the problems of society and improve human life. According to Montesquieu, there were three types of government: a monarchy (king or queen), a republic (elected leaders), and a despotism (dictator). Montesquieu believed that a government that was elected by the people was the best form of government. He did, however, believe that the success of a democracy depended upon maintaining the right balance of power.

Montesquieu argued that the best government would be one in which power was balanced among three groups of officials. He thought England - which divided power between the king (who enforced laws), Parliament (which made laws), and the judges of the English courts (who interpreted laws) - was a good model of this. Montesquieu called the idea of dividing government power into three branches the "separation of powers." He thought it most important to create separate branches of government with equal but different powers. That way, the government would avoid placing too much power with one individual or group of individuals. He wrote, "When the [law making] and [law enforcement] powers are united in the same person... there can be no liberty." According to Montesquieu, each branch of government could limit the power of the other two branches so as not to threaten the freedom of the people. His ideas about separation of powers became the basis for the United States Constitution.

Despite Montesquieu's belief in the principles of a democracy, he did not feel that all people were equal. Montesquieu approved of slavery. He also thought that women were weaker than men and that they had to obey the commands of their husband. However, he also felt that women did have the ability to govern because their calmness and gentleness would be helpful qualities in making decisions in government.

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