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What was the Enlightenment? The Enlightenment was a philosophical movement in Europe that occurred throughout the late 17th and early 18th centuries. The Enlightenment arrived at a time of history when countries were governed by monarchs. There were many kings throughout Europe. These kings allied themselves with the Catholic Church to govern the citizens. The king told their citizens that they had a divine right to govern them, God permitted them to create the rules of the country and enforce them. The Catholic Church supported the kings when the people questioned this “divine power”. During this time, several brave people known for their leadership and intelligence started a movement that questioned the absolute authority of the king and the church. E.g. A German man by the name of Martin Luther risked his life when he questioned the church. This act of bravery during the Enlightenment led many others to follow his lead. This essay will focus on six political philosophers who were skeptical of their traditional government. Their names are; John Locke and Thomas Hobbes.
John Locke was a 17th-century philosopher. He is remembered for his brilliant contributions to three issues that still concern us today; What should we do about people who have different religious beliefs, Who should rule us, and how we should educate our children. John Locke was born on August 29, 1632, in Wrington, Somerset, England, and died on October 28, 1704. In 1667, Locke wrote a book called: Toleration. Within the premise of Toleration, Locke argued that religion was a personal choice. He stated ‘Enforcing a single “true religion” would not work, because you can’t be compelled into belief through violence’ (The School of Life, POLITICAL THEORY - John Locke 2:22-2:30). It was because of his influence that the concept of locking up people for their beliefs, entirely fell out of favor. In 1689, Locke published: The Two Treatises of Government. This book tries to answer the question of who should rule the country, and to what extent. In the First Treatise, Locke destroyed the concept of a king’s divine rights, and in the Second Treatise, he challenged Hobbes’s ideas about the state of nature. Locke agreed that before the governments, there would have been a state of nature. But he disagreed as to what this place would have been like. Locke argues “That it would have been broadly peaceful, and that in agreeing to submit to governments, people have therefore not, fearfully agreed to surrender all of their rights” (The School of Life, POLITICAL THEORY - John Locke 4:33-4:41). He proposed that they possessed a range of natural rights that no monarch could deliberately take away. Locke even conceived the notion that if the people felt that their rights were being abused. They could overthrow their government, and set up anew. In, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding. Locke developed a theory: Tabula Rasa, or blank slate. He wrote ‘The little and almost insensible impressions on our tender infancies have very important and lasting consequences’ (The School of Life, POLITICAL THEORY - John Locke 7:08-7:15). Locke explains that at birth, the mind is blank and empty. However, the experiences we face as we grow can shape and alter who we are when we grow up.
Thomas Hobbes was a 17th-century English philosopher. Hobbes is remembered for his thoughts: To what extent should we patiently obey rulers, especially those who are not very good, and to what extent should we start revolutions and depose governments, in search of a better world? Hobbes’s ideas are directly connected to the English Civil War, which began when he was 64 years old. The English Civil War distorted Hobbes’s view of people and affected all his subsequent thinking. Hobbes published Leviathan (1651) to explain why one should obey government authority. Even a very imperfect kind to avoid the risk of chaos and bloodshed. He believed that the “divine right of kings theory was nonsense, and was going to be increasingly unpersuasive as religious observance decreased...” and ‘Hobbes was deeply frightened of the possible consequences of “The social contract theory”. Which could encourage people to depose rules whenever they felt a little unhappy with their [government]’ (The School of Life, POLITICAL THEORY - Thomas Hobbes 2:43-3:06). Hobbes had personally seen the beheading of King Charles I in 1649, and his intellectual ideas were directed at making sure such ghastly scenes would never be repeated. In Leviathan Hobbes tries to combine the social contract theory with a defense of total obedience and submission to traditional authority. He supports this by taking his readers back in time to a period he called “The state of nature”. Before there were kings of any kind, and to get them to think about how governments would have arisen, in the first place. Hobbes focused on how unsightly and brutal the state of nature was. As a result out of fear and dread of chaos, people were led to form governments. “They would have done this willingly as social contract theorists maintained... But also by fleeing into the arms of strong authority, which they, therefore, Hobbes argued had a subsequent duty to keep obeying” (The School of Life, POLITICAL THEORY - Thomas Hobbes 4:25-4:38). Hobbes stated that the only right people might have to protest about an absolute ruler of Leviathan as if he/she directly threatened to kill them. However, if the ruler merely “suppressed opposition, imposed onerous taxes, crippled the economy, and locked up the dissidents” (The School of Life, POLITICAL THEORY - Thomas Hobbes 4:52-4:59). Then there was no validity in protesting and demanding a change of government. Hobbes admitted that a ruler might come along with the intent of carrying out treacherous acts, but the people would still have a duty to serve him/her.
In summary, many aspects make up a political philosopher during the Enlightenment period. The philosophers in this essay were heroes in that they possessed a greater than average bravery and intellectual qualities than others and were able to help move society away from the monarchies of the time and into governments more aware of the natural rights of humans. The six philosophers in this essay are remembered for many political ideas. Hobbes is remembered for supporting the monarchy because he believed that in nature people would have chaos without a powerful leader. On the other hand, John Locke is associated with the concept of natural rights and that everyone has a natural right to defend his; life, health, liberty, or possessions. Kant is famous for his belief in the categorical imperative. Finally, the three Frenchmen stood out with lasting contributions to future beliefs on the government of the people. Voltaire influenced us by sharing that freedom of speech was the best way to battle a corrupted government. Rousseau can be remembered for writing the Social Contract and Emile. Lastly, Montesquieu has gone down in history for his formation of the Checks and balances. All could be considered heroes of the Enlightenment. They all come in many shapes and sizes and have dark sides, but all have one true characteristic: they stood up and expressed themselves influencing the freedoms we enjoy today.
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