World Philosophers History

\Before the Enlightenment, there were no mandates about personal liberties or rights and society was highly hierarchical. Absolute monarchy or absolutism, meaning the king had ultimate authority to run a state and that the king ruled by divine right. During the Scientific Revolution scientists such as Nicolaus Copernicus and Galileo Galilei questioned beliefs of the world and what people sought to be true at the time. Much like the Scientific Revolution, the Enlightenment drastically influenced the way people viewed society and changed millions of minds, which was a way of deceiving authority at the time. Enlightened philosophers applied reason to solve social, political, and economic turmoil of the contemporary time.

In document 1 and 2, philosophers like Locke and Rousseau argued that government gets its power from a “Social contract” with the people rather than from god. John Locke, an English philosopher, stated in his book, “Second Treatise on Government”(1690), that a government should to protect the members of a society’s life, liberty, and possessions (Doc. 1). Another great early philosopher, Jean- Jacques Rousseau, agreed with Locke that a government’s job is “charged with executing the laws and maintaining both civil and political liberty.”(Doc. 2). He explained more later on in his book, “The Social Contract”(1763), that government “is an intermediary body established between the subjects and the sovereign to keep them in touch with each other”, and that “government's power is only the public power vested in it.”(Doc. 2). Both philosophers believed that absolute kings should not have full power to rule over society. These philosophers and their perspectives later on lead to the development of the three branches of government we still use today. Thomas Hobbes, an English philosopher believed that people were born evil, selfish, and greedy and thus power should be in the hands of the monarchs(O.I.). Conflicting ideas emerged during the Enlightenment they all took into account the natural laws, laws that govern the basics of human nature. The fight for the rights of men led many women to take a chance and also fight for women’s right.

Another philosopher named Voltaire, a French historian philosopher who had many similar aspects of Locke and Rousseau, introduced new ideas during the Enlightenment. In his writing A Treatise of Toleration, he discussed how the Christian faith dictates that all men are brothers. But nonetheless, people of different faith are not treated equal (Doc.3). Voltaire theories revolved around religious toleration. This theory and perspective resulted in both Voltaire and his followers to question religious authority. Joseph II Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire incorporated religious toleration into his government allowing the Protestants to freely practice their faith(Doc.4). Unlike Joseph II, Frederick II, King of Prussia, perspective’s was that the power of the ruler was determined by the subjects. He wrote in “On the Forms of Government”, that he will “perform with care the duties connected with being ruler” (Doc.5). Frederick II wanted to be loved rather than feared, thus he funded schooling, liberated