4 Philosophical Influences on American Government
I.
Thomas Hobbes (1588 – 1679)
a. English scholar and philosopher;
author of Leviathan (Monster coming
out of waterside town)
b. Held that every person has an
instinctive drive for self-preservation.
And because they cannot trust one
another, they surrendered all of their
personal rights to a higher authority.
c. This authority alone has the sole power to curb aggression. They are therefore
bound to this “contract” with one another.
d. “Law is preferable to anarchy because it best serves the individual.”
e. Although he outwardly supported the monarchies of the day, his thoughts
directly challenged monarchs’ claim of “divine right” through omission.
II.
John Locke (1632- 1704)
a. English writer/philosopher who saw “the state” as secular (non-religious) and
individuals born as a “tabula rasa.”
b. Insisted that the individual only ever agreed to
turn over one right to those in higher authority
- the power to ‘preserve life, liberty and
property.’ The rest of the individual’s rights
were natural and retained. (i.e. “natural
rights”)
c. Also asserted that when rulers pushed beyond these “natural rights” the
society is free, legally and morally, to resist.
d. Wrote the Two Treatises on Government (people come together in a social
contract to protect their own rights)
III.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712 – 1778)
a. French – Swiss Philosopher who believed
that people lived free in nature and that
civilization had corrupted them.
b. Held that the general will of the people
was the sovereign power in an organized
society because it was always right.
c. He believed that “all” people should
have a voice in government.
d. Wrote book Social Contract (“All men are born free, but everywhere they are
in chains.”) and Emile (Student who learned by direct experience)
IV. Montesquieu (1689 – 1755)… really ‘Charles
Louis de Secondat, Baron de…’
a. French attorney and philosopher who believed one
system
wouldn’t
fit
every
society.
b. Believed that different systems of government
were appropriate for different peoples depending
on their situation (economy, geography, social and
religious traditions)
c. Proposed system of organization based on English
system (3 branches) of representative government
which provided for a system of checks and
balances in order to balance power.
d. Wrote Spirit of the Laws (detailed 3 branch system
and interaction b/t executive, judicial and
legislative)