Enlightenment And Government Summary

Dorinda Outram’s book The Enlightenment contains the chapter “Enlightenment and Government” which highlights that contrary to popular belief, not all philosophes had the same ideas when it came to the ideal government. Outram focuses on the misconceptions people had about the Enlightenment and bring to light the true differences people had about government during this time period. Outram discusses the relationship between the Enlightenment and government, a relationship that has had few research. Through the lives of three leaders in Enlightenment and government John Lock, Baron de Montesquieu, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, it is clear how philosophes greatly differed yet had many similarities in the way they viewed government. John Locke’s view of government is based on the idea that all men are in a state of nature by God; Locke refers to this state as perfect freedom in Second Treatise on Government. In other words, Locke believed that each person is born naturally free and should be protected by the state of nature, which he defines as the government. Locke first established that to understand political power one first has to understand the law of nature. Locke believed that all men are equal unless God said contrarily. Locke viewed equality as the foundation of his beliefs and that under …show more content…
Even though Rousseau’s ideas differ there are also some similarities. Rousseau, like Locke, believed that men are born free. Both Locke and Rousseau agreed that men had certain natural rights that they should not give up to any leader. Rousseau believed men in a state of nature are free and equal, but in a state of nature men were very different; Rousseau described men in a state of nature as “noble savages.” The only way to notice the many differences in Rousseau’s thinking in comparison to Locke and Montesquieu is by first looking at his