Government and Enlightenment thinkers

Sarah Laskin
Feb 24, 2020

John Locke believes the people have unalienable rights such as life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. He also believes in the social contract theory, which states that people choose to give power to a ruler and if the ruler is bad, they can take that power away and rebel. He says the natural state of nature of people is chaotic but not necessarily good or bad, and people have stronger moral limits. Government is necessary to subdue the chaos. He also believes the law of nature can be discovered by reason alone, and it is different than divine law. Lastly, he believes all people have natural rights which are privileges or claims to which people are entitled.
Thomas Hobbes believes the world without government is a violent place where people live in constant fear, similar to a state of war (but not necessarily with the fighting). He believes people are nasty, solitary, and live short lives without the government. He believes men are equal in nature and man may do whatever he sees fit to protect his interests, especially his life. He believes there is a right to life and the preservation of it, and a right to equality. His theory on government is people collectively give up their freedom and power to a ruler to have absolute control in exchange for preventing the state of war.
Jean-Jaques Rousseau thinks man without government is primitive in condition without law or mortality, and are mean and ignorant. But, he also believes they are free and equal. He thinks people don't have much interaction but competition is unavoidable when there is no government. For law of nature, he thinks natural law os morality, which is preservation of self without causing harm to others. He does not agree with causing pain to others in order to preserve oneself. He believes in a social contract, and a general will made and agreed by the people. He believes in a direct rule by the people.
I agree with certain aspects of these theories, and I feel combined they would work best. For example, I agree with Locke and his social contract theory, and I agree with the overall theme of needing a government because people can’t organize themselves if left unchecked. I agree with Hobbes’s statement of humans being violent if left unchecked- we can see this in the Stanford prison experiment and various novels like Lord of the Flies and TV shows like “the 100”. But, I disagree with giving total control and power to the government, because the government is made of people, and people can be corrupt and evil. If an evil person ruled the government and had total power, things would not go well. So, a middle ground can be reached. My idea would use all three philosophies and ideas: Locke’s social contract theory, Rousseau’s representation (but not completely direct rule), and Hobbes’ self preservation theories. People would be free and equal, and have say in the government, but they would give power to a leader in exchange for security and peace. 

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