Thomas Hobbes, John Locke And Rousseau's Theory Of The Declaration Of Enlightenment

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Throughout the Age of Enlightenment, thinkers such as Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, and Jean Jacques Rousseau contemplated the authority of the state over the individual: they are some of the most prominent theorists of this time period, and their studies have aided in the establishment of the Declaration of Independence as well as modern democracy. Each of these men’s historical expositions -- Hobbes’ Leviathan, Locke’s The Second Treatise, and Rousseau’s Discourse on the Origins of Inequality and The Social Contract -- outline how man’s authentic state of nature contributes to the necessity of a social contract which exists in order to maintain civil society. While each of these philosophers has developed their own theories on the true state …show more content…

Rousseau, like Locke, defends a natural state which is generally good, and further examines the legitimacy of the social contract in a manner which criticizes the will of the individual versus the whole of society. The different definitions of the state of nature, mainly Hobbes’ state of constant war which directly opposes Locke’s free and moral society in need of security and legality, contribute directly to each person’s definition of the terms and conditions of the social …show more content…

According to Rousseau, private property not only binds society to government, but it is also the source of unhappiness and strife: “The first man who, having enclosed a piece of ground, bethought himself of saying this is mine, and found people simple enough to believe him, was the real founder of civil society... Beware of listening to this imposter; you are undone if you once forget that the fruits of the earth belong to us all, and the earth itself to nobody.” In addition to this theory on property, Rousseau believes that the most just form of government is that of a direct democracy, as opposed to a representative system: people must participate in their active roles in society, because the common good is established and can only be established by the people, not a sovereign (Ward). The sovereign is merely an exercise of the general will, and therefore can only be accurately represented by the people which it governs. The works Hobbes and Locke focus more heavily on the establishment of the social contract while Rousseau’s essays examine the role of the individual in society and consider private property not only as a

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