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Montesquieu's View Of Past Events During Western Civilization

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As I now have a few weeks analyzing the concept of political theory, my ideas have been challenged, and my opinions have been altered. As I gain a better understanding of past governments, I'm able to gather more educated based opinions that are benefiting me in many aspects of life. I notice myself paying more attention to current news, and relating this information to past events during Western Civilization. In this essay I intend to address some newly introduced philosophers, along with some ideas brought up in class discussions. Montesquieu mainly discusses ideas regarding a republic and establishes the concept of having separation between powers by branches. For example, the checks and balances of the United States, includes the executive, …show more content…

He also doesn’t like an economy where a few wealthy citizens hoard the money their own personal benefit. Humes' research has proved that when the public becomes more powerful by obtaining an equal distribution of wealth among society, that economic power is also benefited; which is in the best interest of the public benefit. Another idea emphasized by Hume was on page 424 where he introduces the concept of, "Good and evil, or in other words, pain and pleasure." In this statement Hume is addressing the publics motivation in society, in search of a better way of life. This statement was made in regards to the intertwining of kind affections and selfishness, and how it's rare to discover a combination of the two attributes. This also brings us back to another quote of Humes' regarding the dangers of wealthiness amongst society where he states, "…self-interest remains strong..." (pg. 424) In this quote, Hume refers to his concern of the wealthy seeking power rather than trying to benefit the people. Hume seeks happiness among the public by sharing the benefits of an ever-growing economy, by abiding to these concepts it's easy to see the possibility of his ideas becoming a …show more content…

An important concept stressed by Rousseau was that revolution was inevitable when resisting a mild reform within a country. Before Rousseau, many philosophers studied the idea of how to obtain a good life, while Rousseau focused on establishing a government for the people, by the people. But with this concept in mind, he still struggled with two major inequalities within the public which includes natural age which helps to determine the quality of mind, and the political and moral wealth, honor, and power within a community. Rousseau desires the assisting of the lower class within a government, as he came from a low-income community and has lived in this lifestyle prior to his research. With awareness of his background, it becomes easy to see why he believes in the idea of having the ability to select our own destiny. By selecting a ruler that'll help better the lives of the people, and a determined mind set, a better life in achievable. Rousseau also stresses the concept of liberty in three forms which includes natural, civil, and moral liberty. In order to grant liberty to the lowest class, we need to protect them, and keep them safe as mentioned in a quote found on page 451, which states, "No one should be able to buy another human or be forced to sell himself." Rousseau doesn't believe in slavery, or domination of the wealthy, he desires equality for all. While Rousseau proposes many wise ideas,

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The best form of government, as stated by Montesquieu, is one where the legislative, executive and judicial powers were separate and kept each other in check to keep any branch from being too powerful. He called this idea the separation of powers. An example of this in his eyes was England’s government. Charles mistook the way that political power operated. He saw the English government as one where it separated and balanced powers instead of one central part holding all the power.

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Rousseau’s beliefs coincided with the beliefs of other Enlightenment thinkers. This is shown when he writes, “Duty and interest thus equally require the two contracting parties [the people and the government] to aid each other mutually” (Document 3). In that period of history, it was typical for people to be ruled by a monarch and they had very little say, if any, in the laws and policies that impacted their day to day life. Rousseau felt that the system was outdated and it made citizens feel as if they were living in someone else’s home rather than their own, so he theorized that by fabricating a system in which the government and the people are forced to work together, it creates a sense of unity and equality. This works because “ … an offense against one of its members is an offense against the body politic.

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The United States’ government checks and balances system is referred to in Paper #51 in the following statement: “It is of great importance in a republic not only to guard the society against the oppression of its rulers, but to guard one part of the society against the injustice of the other part.” (The Federalist Papers, Paper #51, p.3) This means that the government and people must protect themselves not only from overpowered rulers, but also in groups within society who are overpowering another. "

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Rousseau, one of the most leading philosophers during the Enlightenment, had indeed left many of legendries behind. Not only his writings had caused many of the reactions at that time, but also influenced many writers’ aspects of the French Revolution and the overall understanding of inequality and the General Will. As one of the chief political theorists during the French Revolution who was also influenced by Rousseau’s ideas, Abbe Sieyes, published the pamphlet, “What is the Third Estate?” in 1789. This pamphlet was one of the documents that changed the world and lit the flame toward the French Revolution, as characterized by Joe Janes, a University of Washington professor (Janes).

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An example of checks and balances is the executive branch is getting check by the legislative branch. If the legislative branch does not announce the nominate what the president selects they think that the president will gain much power

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To begin Rousseau starts the reading by saying that there cannot be a legitimate political authority because political authority puts restraints of freedoms that man was born with, Rousseau says that man was born with one natural form of authority, and that is the authority of a father over a child which exist only to keep the child alive all other authorities are rejected. The reasoning that some philosophers such as Hobbes assume that natural superiority of rulers over the ruled is the same as parental authority. However, Rousseau believes that this authority has no basis in nature because they use force to keep it. Rousseau says that the only answer to this problem is through some social contract made between members of society where people surrender their freedom

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This ensure that the strongest persons remains the master in a civil society (book I page 2), while the weak have an opportunity to grow as well. In summary, my understanding of Rousseau’s theory is that as individual men, we come together and subject ourselves as slaves to a common master in order to access alternate rights which see that our rights to property and life and death and preserved without infringing on the rights of the next person. We are still ‘free’ since our liberties are combined to form a sovereign power which is non-destructible, and meant to serve the general will at all

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Along these lines, the general population had the privilege to expel the ''chains'' of an oppressive society and to make a government system dedicated to the benefit of everyone. The premise of government, Rousseau held, is a social contract through which individuals surrender their individual rights to the general will, the will of the larger part. Those restricting the general will, be that as it may, must acknowledge if or be compelled to be free. By contradicting shamefulness and supporting government by the general population, The Social Contract has formed law based idea from the 1700s he introduces. In any case, absolute rulers have utilized its thoughts regarding the general will to legitimize their strategies.

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Jean-Jacques Rousseau had different philosophies compared to most philosophers of his time (“Biographical Briefing on Jean-Jacques Rousseau”). When it came to government, he believed in direct democracy in order to truly have freedom and equality for all (“Biographical Briefing on Jean-Jacques Rousseau”). Direct democracy allows the people to have the power to truly govern themselves and to decide on what laws they want and don’t want. His main issues with government in his time was that inequality was a huge part of it, such as another person having more land, somebody being rich or poor, many concepts that were created by society that has led to people’s unhappiness (Delaney; Duignan and Cranston). He thought that in their natural form without

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Rousseau as a liberal was one of the most important funders of the 18th century, in the time of Enlightenment. Inspired by Plutarch, Machiavelli and Plato, his pursuit was promoting realism, equality, freedom from authoritarianism and questioning everything. He considered the individual to be important for the creation and relation of states, humans can be good or bad as individuals, but when part of a society it is easier to be corrupted by bad institutions. Rousseau thought of men as a naturally solitary which leads to self-love that can translate into selfishness and greed, and also compassion and love for others which can weaken their instinct for survival.

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Rousseau also has the theory that people should be free from society’s enslaving traditions. He stated that a teacher will educate and teach the worldly person and cannot educate the natural man. Rousseau’s “natural man” was an individual whose natural virtues had not been influenced by any societal and social

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John Locke and Baron de Montesquieu were political philosophers that debated the question of who was best fit to control the government. Locke and Montesquieu shared similar political beliefs such as natural rights and the separation of government powers. However, both philosophers did, in fact, have their personal views that helped them accomplish important achievements. John Locke published “Two Treatises of Government” and “ An Essay Concerning Human Understanding,” which present a detail philosophy of the mind and thought. Locke’s “An Essay Concerning Human Understanding,” lays out his philosophical project.

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His main beliefs on society, inequality, and war are not closely related to those of other philosophers. Rousseau believes that society brings benefits such as mutual protection, but that it also corrupts us. This makes society a benefit, but in the end our downfall as well. He believes that when we account for society we bring in the inequality. Some people are very luxurious with many things and much private property while others lack in these aspects of life.

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In his work Discourse on the Origin of Inequality Rousseau presents the argument that political inequality is rooted in the origins of human sociality. He suggests that in the state of nature, only physical inequality existed. Thusly meaning that political inequality only came into being as a result of human beings shifting from undifferentiated oneness to differentiated individuals. He illustrates three main stages that lead to this (civil society): the development of village life, the social division of labor and the formation of government. In forming society, we as human beings entered into social relationships and so were able to socially construct agreed upon measurements of human worth (i.e. private property) and so create political inequalities.

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The French Revolution was undoubtedly influenced by the political theorists of the Enlightenment. The ideas of two French political theorists in particular are easily seen throughout the French Revolution, Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Baron Montesquieu. Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s thoughts and texts, such as the Social Contract, instilled the entitlement of basic human rights to all men. Rousseau’s concepts on rights combined with Baron Montesquieu’s ideas on government provided the backbone of a radical movement in the French Revolution known as the Terror. When one delves into the beginnings of the French Revolution, the motives and actions of the National Assembly, and the Terror of the French Revolution, one can obviously see the influence of two Enlightenment political theorists, Rousseau and Montesquieu.

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