![]() ![]() The sovereign was not subject to the contract. The sovereign was given the power to enforce the contract. In the social contract, individuals agreed to form a political society based on certain conditions, including that the people surrendered many of their rights to a sovereign leader-one with legitimate authority-to protect their lives. The older view was that social and political institutions arose naturally, not from a contract between individuals. Hobbes’s social contract philosophy represents a break from the ancient and medieval belief that humanity was naturally social. Hobbes argued that this state of nature was a “war of all against all.” Since no one was safe in the state of nature, it was reasonable for humans to form a social contract with each other to create a government. Without laws or government authority, humans threaten each other’s rights and lives. He thought that people were naturally ruled by their passions, self-interest, and a desire for power. He believed that human nature was essentially corrupt. Thomas Hobbes wrote his famous book Leviathan (1658) within the context of the English Civil War, a civil war fought between supporters of the monarchy of Charles I and supporters of Parliament from 1642 to 1651. However, Enlightenment thinkers disagreed on nearly all of the details. The philosophers agreed that to do so, humans must make a social contract, or an agreement to live together under certain rules for the common good. Each thinker considered what humans are like in their natural state and explained why they formed organized communities. Many Enlightenment thinkers, including Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, developed ideas about human nature by reflecting on the nature and condition of humans before the existence of government and civil society-the groups of citizens and organizations that make up society and work for the common concerns in a community. The Enlightenment ushered in an era of greater questioning of traditional truths and authorities and played an important role in helping shape the American Founders’ thinking. The Enlightenment, or age of reason, followed in the 1600s and focused on examining human nature and its characteristics, such as forms of government. Take notes about the main ideas of the essay in the right column.ĭuring the 1500s and 1600s, the Scientific Revolution greatly expanded human understanding of the material world and the frontiers of human knowledge through use of the scientific method and experiments. ![]() Having legitimate power/authority that does not derive from a higher power/authorityĭirections: As you read the essay, highlight or underline key ideas in the text. Universal rights that all humans hold regardless of customs, laws, or societies and given to them by God or by natureĪ mode of gaining knowledge that involves observing and testing in order to learnĪ time period during the 16th and 17th centuries in which major advances in various fields of science and mathematics were madeĪn agreement under which humans live together under certain rules The groups of citizens and organizations that make up society and work for the common concerns in a communityĪ civil war fought between supporters of the monarchy of Charles I and supporters of Parliament from 1642 to 1651Ī time period during the 16th and 17th centuries that urged people to use reason to discover knowledge of the universeĪ nearly bloodless revolution that began in 1688 in which England overthrew its king, James II, and replaced him with a new monarch with fewer absolute powersĪ system of justice that applies to all humans universally ![]() I can compare the influence of Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau on the Founders of the United States.Ī form of government under which the monarch holds all political power.I can explain the major ideas of Enlightenment thinkers Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau.I can explain the historical context for the emergence of the Enlightenment.Guiding Questions: What were the major ideas of the Enlightenment? How did the Enlightenment influence the United States’ Founding? Background Essay: The Enlightenment and Social Contract Theory ![]()
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