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Importance of rights
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Imagine, if you will, the age of enlightenment, the century of lights, and the intellectual movement that shaped the reasoning of politics, philosophy, science, and communications, that came together to form what we call a society today. Notwithstanding the lack of worldview on liberty and equality, I, the “Father of Liberalism”, conveyed my thoughts and beliefs through human reasoning, theoretical analysis, and efficacious argument. The questioning may arise, “what did I do to help change the world”? Let’s revisit the time when I interpreted human equality into politics that impacted the French Revolution. I am addressing my well-known written work, such as “Two Treatises of Government” and “An Essay Concerning Human Understanding”, which …show more content…
I believed that men are free by nature and people have rights in their life, liberty, and property, which should allow them to have the similar rights in a legitimate political government. Not only that, but governments lacking the protection of peoples’ rights must be neglected and superseded. Yet, I cannot ignore the rights of revolution. I gave credence to the principle of majority rule along the separation of legislative and executive powers in a government. In addition to the government dominancy, my ideology states that compulsion should be precluded from occurring as people should have their own choice of religion and not reflect on what the ruler’s beliefs are. I see the same thing when I contemplate churches as they must not pressurize their members. Aside from this, contrary to pre-existing concepts, I concluded that we are born without built in mental content, meaning knowledge is retrieved through sensory experience. To summarize, given my beliefs, theories, or arguments that I put forward in political philosophy, you may ponder, “wherefore did John Locke form such beliefs? Pursuing this further, my convictions gave importance to people’s rights as I comprehended that we are capable of reasoning and governing ourselves, and any government that mistreats or denies our natural rights must be overlooked through revolutionary ideas put forward to them as well as the social contract, which forms relations between peoples’ natural and legal
The French Revolution was a period of political upheaval that occurred in France during the latter half of the 18th century. This revolution marked an end to the system of feudalism and the monarchy in France and a rise to democracy and new Enlightenment ideas. By 1789, when the revolution began, France was in a deep financial crisis due to the debt they had obtained over many years of reckless spending and France was nearly bankrupt. These financial issues fell almost completely on the bottom social class or the Third Estate which made up a majority of the country. Because of this financial trouble the common people were heavily taxed leaving many of them in poverty. In addition to the economic issues, France also held an Estate System that led to heavy
The American Revolution (1775-1783) was a war between England and the colonies which were settled earlier by the English. There were many factors and events that led to the American Revolution. The Revolution was mainly an economic rebellion that was fueled by taxation without representation following the French and Indian War. The English Parliament was more often than not considered cruel and unfair by the colonists. With conflicts over trade, taxes and government representation, the colonies were at a starting line of a revolution that would later transform into the basis of the United States of America.
In Second Treatise of Government John Locke characterizes the state of nature as one’s ability to live freely and abide solely to the laws of nature. Therefore, there is no such thing as private property, manmade laws, or a monarch. Locke continues to say that property is a communal commodity; where all humans have the right to own and work considering they consume in moderation without being wasteful. Civil and Political Societies are non-existent until one consents to the notion that they will adhere to the laws made by man, abide by the rules within the community, allow the ability to appoint men of power, and interact in the commerce circle for the sake of the populace. Locke goes further to state that this could be null in void if the governing body over extends their power for the gain of absolute rule. Here, Locke opens the conversation to one’s natural right to rebel against the governing body. I personally and whole heartily agree with Locke’s principles, his notion that all human beings have the natural right to freedoms and the authority to question their government on the basis that there civil liberties are being jeopardized.
Specifically, the idea that man is endowed with certain liberties that were granted by God and/or nature was advocated by the Enlightenment thinkers. Many people took aim at arbitrary governments and the “divine right of kings.” John Locke in return offered principles of constructing a constitutional government, a contract between rulers and the ruled. In Document 7, John Locke in The Two Treatises of Government stated that men consent to enter society in order to preserve their natural rights such as life, liberty, and property. The government should protect people's natural rights and if not, then the people can remove their consent because the government derives its power from the consent of the people. John Locke wrote during the time period of the Enlightenment; therefore, his thoughts were based on the emerging idea of individualism furthermore man's inherent rights and powers. Thomas Jefferson wrote in The Declaration of Independence (Document 9) that are all men are created equal and that they are endowed with certain natural rights. The Declaration of Independence was written because of England's tyrannical rule over the American colonies thus, the citizens felt that their natural rights were being abused by the English government. Individualism was indeed formed in response to the skepticism of the Church as
Review this essay John Locke – Second treatise, of civil government 1. First of all, John Locke reminds the reader from where the right of political power comes from. He expands the idea by saying, “we must consider what estate all men are naturally in, and that is, a state of perfect freedom to order their actions, and dispose of their possessions and persons as they think fit.” Locke believes in equality among all people. Since every creature on earth was created by God, no one has advantages over another.
Locke and Rousseau present themselves as two very distinct thinkers. They both use similar terms, but conceptualize them differently to fulfill very different purposes. As such, one ought not be surprised that the two theorists do not understand liberty in the same way. Locke discusses liberty on an individual scale, with personal freedom being guaranteed by laws and institutions created in civil society. By comparison, Rousseau’s conception portrays liberty as an affair of the entire political community, and is best captured by the notion of self-rule. The distinctions, but also the similarities between Locke and Rousseau’s conceptions can be clarified by examining the role of liberty in each theorist’s proposed state of nature and civil society, the concepts with which each theorist associates liberty, and the means of ensuring and safeguarding liberty that each theorist devises.
Locke states that the correct form of civil government should be committed to the common good of the people, and defend its citizens’ rights to life, health, liberty, and personal possessions. He expects that a civil government’s legislative branch will create laws which benefit the wellbeing of its citizens, and that the executive branch will enforce laws under a social contract with the citizenry. “The first and fundamental positive law of all common-wealths is the establishing of the legislative power; as the first and fundamental natural law, which is to govern even the legislative itself, is the preservation of the society and (as far as will consist with the public good) of every person in it.”1 Locke believes that humans inherently possess complete and i...
The writings of Locke on the subject of revolution in his second treatise of government were one of the founding and seminal texts on the “right” of a populace to resist the power of the state if a government was to overstep its defined power and become an unjust tyranny. Kant, however, took what could be labelled a surprising view for a republican and made the denial of the logical and legal coherence of this “right”, as well as the potential harm caused by the rejection of what Kant saw as an individual's moral duty in maintaining the rule of law by the preservation of a government. This essay aims to examine the arguments put forward by both thinkers, draw out their key foundations and assess their coherence with the component parts of their arguments, as well as their wider philosophy. It is my conclusion that whilst Locke's stance on the matter clearly stems from his key ideological tenets of inalienable individual rights and the duty of self preservation, Kant's argument sits uneasily with his stance on moral autonomy, as well as leaving certain areas (such as the right to resist on the grounds of injustice) untouched, and thus is lacking in both scope and coherence when placed in comparison to the writings of Locke.
The values and proclamations that the enlightenment brought to the table coincide with the French Revolution which sought to establish secular forms of government formulated on the values of liberty, equality and fraternity. All these principles that these thinkers passed down and assimilated into the minds of individuals was a step closer to weakening the authority that religion had over society and the wellbeing of the individual. John Locke, a prominent enlightenment thinker, said in his article “The Second Treatise of Government”, “if man in the state of nature be so free, as has been said; if he be absolute lord of his own person and possessions, equal to the greatest, and subject to nobody, why will he part with his freedom? Why will he give up this empire, and subject himself to the dominion and control of any other power?”(Locke 69). Locke is saying if we were supposed to be free to our own liberty and possessions and be in control of only ourselves and no one else can control us, then why would we want to give this up and become under the control of the
'In political and ideological terms the revolution was no doubt crucial importance, but humanity was not transformed, thereby at the end of all the political upheavels fo the revolution and Empire little had changed in the daily life of most frenchment.'
My character is a delegate from a rural provinces Guyenne and Gascony known collectively as Bordeaux
Total freedom for all people is an ideal way of life. Throughout the French Revolution, the idea of total freedom and human rights circulated the nation of France. While it is true that progress was made in the realm of human rights and freedom, only a select group legally acquired rights and freedom. As the white, male property owning individuals of France took clear advantage of their new-found rights and freedoms, a minority group inhabiting the French colony island of Saint-Domingue, known as the mulattoes, attempted to pave the way for progress. The mulattoes sought rights of their own and based their notions of freedom and equality off of the French National Assembly’s Declaration of the Rights of Man.
“Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity” was the motto of the French Revolution. However, during this time of violence and conflict I do not believe the revolutionaries were living up to this motto. Not only was political power only in the hands of property-owning citizens, but women were continuously denied the same rights as men, and slavery was an ongoing battle amongst French territories. Although at times the revolutionaries did follow this motto, I am convinced that they violated it more often than not.
The purposes of governments are for the mutual safety of the people and the ability to provide for their needs through working together for a common good. For without some form of government or the loss of form of law and order, would prove to be catalysts of anarchy. This observation directly relates to one of Hobbs's contentions, that a social contract was an agreement not to be killed and to stop killing one another. People must give up some freedoms if there is to be any peace. Locke believed in religious freedoms a basic tenet of the Constitution of the US in conjunction with the presumption that it is natural for one to be free and enjoy liberty.
The French Revolution was a momentous turning point for the people of France, and even all of Europe. It spurred many advances in human rights during its occurrence and in the years following its cessation in 1799. The issue of human rights in France during the French Revolution evoked several responses such as the definition of natural rights, increased tolerance toward non-Catholic religions, advancement in gender equality, and universal suffrage.