The Influence Of John Locke's Ideas On Politics And Philosophical Thinking

John Locke had a lot of important ideas that have permanently shaped the world today such as the state of nature and equality of man, his views on private property, social contract and the consent of the majority, and sovereign power. His two major pieces of writing were Two Treatises of Government and Essay Concerning Human Understanding. Aristotle was a major influence for John Locke because him and Aristotle both had similar ideas concerning John Locke’s theory of the mind. Aristotle had an idea of “blank slate” which John Locke adapted and further explained as a man’s brain starting out as “white paper”, void of everything and then as a man lives and experiences life then that is when the paper becomes worn.

All of John Locke’s ideas have had lasting effects today such as how he shaped the effects and outcomes of the democratic revolutions in England, the United States, and France. His effect on democratic revolutions in England came mostly after the Glorious Revolution where John Locke justified the overthrow of James II. He informed people in his writings that James II failed the government in its most important purpose: protecting the rights of the people. He said that all people had the right to life, liberty, and property and that these were “natural rights”. He believed that people had the right to overthrow governments that weren’t protecting these rights. He also said that power came from the people which established a powerful argument against the divine right of kings.

John Locke influenced the democratic revolution in the United States in many ways. One of them was the reason the U.S. went to war with Great Britain. This was the natural rights of man. John Locke said that these were life, liberty, and the right to property and the Americans thought all three of these things were being hindered by. This caused the Revolutionary War between the United States and Great Britain. When the United States won the war John Locke’s idea of the Separation of Powers and Social Contract played a big role in the creation of the constitution and government. The Separation of Powers caused the three branches of government to be made and Social Contract is where the government protected the people’s natural rights in exchange for their consent to be governed.

John Locke majorly affected the democratic revolution in France before, during, and after the French Revolution. King Louis XIV was an unliked king. He brought in Marie Antoinette to be his wife and she was widely unpopular amongst the French people. The French people did highly unlike the royals during this time but for just reasons. There was high debt to be paid during this time and no one was paying tax for it except for the commoners. They were paying extreme amounts of money for these debts while the royals and higher people got to spend however they wished and they doused themselves in luxury. When the commoners got ahold of the idea of Social Contract that’s when everything went downhill. Social Contract, the idea of protecting the natural rights of the people in exchange for their consent to be governed, didn’t exist in France. The government was not protecting the rights of the people and they did not want to be governed by the current governing body. This was the start and base of the French Revolution and after the revolution France used John Locke’s ideas in ways similar to the United States.

Montesquieu had many ideas and published works but the most popular would most likely be The Spirit of Laws written in 1750. It went over many of the things in government but mostly the idea of separation of powers. While Locke also had these ideas they weren’t as thorough as Montesuquieu’s were. Montesquieu went over all of his ideas in depth and really went into detail about how to better the government through checks and balances. This was another thing absent in Locke’s ideas of separation of powers. His ideas didn’t really include checks and balances. While there was a small form of this it wasn’t centered around it like Montesquieu’s was.

In Montesquieu’s book The Spirit of the Laws he states, “The political liberty, of the subject, (separation of powers), is a tranquility of mind arising from the opinion each person has of [their] safety. In order to have this liberty. It is requisite the government be so constituted as one [person] need not to be afraid of one another.” This quote is easily interpreted by looking at how Montesquieu uses the word liberty. He means it in a way as to promote each authority in government to portioning power in a way so that one authority can not reign over another. He thought this could best be achieved by separation of powers. Montesquieu was very influenced by John Locke and his beliefs. They both believed in separation of powers and John Locke was a very highly appreciated philosopher that pushed Montesquieu to do better in his work.

Montesquieu’s idea of separation of powers can be seen today in how it affected the democratic revolution in England. It helped England establish a clear parliament to rule its land. This was not previously there as most of the power belonged to the Pope and the church. England now has a parliamentary government opposed to its earlier autocracy.

His ideas also greatly impacted the United State’s democratic revolution during and after the break away from Great Britain. Similarly to how John Locke shaped America’s constitution Montesquieu also had ideas with separation of powers that are arguably more extensive. This is how the United States became a democratic republic. They created three powers that checked one another and kept the power balanced. This is what we know today as checks and balances.

France also received separation of powers after their democratic revolution. Now France is ruled with a checks and balances system that is still in use today. This extensive view of separation of powers by Montesquieu has permanently shaped these three countries and many more.

Rousseau had two main theories pertaining around the same thing. The first is ,Discourse on the Origin and Foundations of Inequality Among Men, also known as the second discourse. The other one is his normative. Basically his romanticized theory of Social Contract. His Discourse on the Origin and Foundations of Inequality Among Men, holds his established views on Social Contract. Normative is meant to supply us with the answer on how to get rid of problems today’s society has made for us with the Social Contract.

Rousseau said that State of Nature was a beautiful and idealistic place. People had easy lives. Their needs were taken care of by nature. Eventually though many people became grouped together as the population skyrocketed. As these people came together they began social groups and started public values. This led to comparison with others which made envy and contempt. Social classes began with private property and everyone battling for it and people wanted their property protected So, government was made through contract so a higher power could protect the inequalities society made with private property. This is the social contract Rousseau saw as threatening and what made modern day society so competitive.

Rousseau was influenced by the philosopher Voltaire. Voltaire had many ideas of freedoms. These ideas are what helped create the mold and foundation for Rousseau’s expansion on the Social Contract theory. Voltaire had a famous saying “we cultivate our own gardens”. This quote helped with the social contract theory because it helped Rousseau base the principle that we make what we want to be so when we make a contract with the government we do it with the best intentions for ourselves.

Many of Rousseau’s ideas are still around today like how he permanently shaped the democratic revolution in England. The Holy Roman Empire was torn apart during the wars of the Reformation. This is when Henry VIII made the Church of England disconnect from Rome. Since this happened people needed to find a new way to be governed and a new way to pledge their loyalty to something. In their search, political theorists turned the concept of a contract. They used Rousseau’s idea of social contract. People, through their representatives, chose their governors or whatever form of constitution they chose. For England this happened to be a parliamentary democracy

Rousseau also shaped America’s democratic revolution. A government’s authority is given by those who are being governed. People agree to this because most of the time the government intends to authoritize in the best interest of the people. This is Rousseau’s idea of social contract. When a nation liberates itself such as how the Americans did with is makes the contract fresh and blank, therefore, everyone is back in the state of nature. Since everybody is the same in the state of nature, the people create a new social contract to replace the old one. This idea from Rousseau was the center of the Declaration of Independence.

Rousseau shaped France in similar ways that he shaped America. France didn’t like who they were being ruled by so looked into Rousseau’s idea of Social Contract. The French no longer wanted to give their consent to be governed because they didn’t want to be governed by the current body that was neglecting their needs. Therefore, the French started a revolution to put themselves back in the state of nature so they can start fresh with a new better Social Contract.

Simon Bolivar was very opinionated and was a strong advocate for independence which is exactly why we have democratic revolutions. He thought that “general will” was the way to go and he believed that strongly. He thought freedom should be for everyone not just caucasion people but also African Americans so therefore he thought everyone should be free under the greater good. He was very much influenced by the philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau because Bolivar thought Rousseau’s ideas about “general will” were superior and they best exemplified what was in the best interest of the people.

He affected England’s democratic revolution because he liberated many places. As soon as people heard about all the countries he had freed it’s hard not to catch freedom fever. He believed everyone had rights and everyone had the right to be free so it inspired the English.

He affected the democratic revolution in the United States in many ways. While he believed in “general will” which is the common good or interest of the people that view is subjective. So, that view is in the eye of the beholder. If the person thinks that he knows what’s best for the country then he will do that which completely goes against absolute acquiescence in the decisions of the majority because then the leader is the minority and making decisions based on opinion. Therefore, Bolivar was a cautionary tale in the American Revolution because while he was a big advocate for freedom he also had very dictatorial tendencies.

His affect on the democratic revolution in France was extremely similar to how he influenced the United States. He served as more of a cautionary tale than anything else. Although he freed many countries he did so for the wrong reasons because he did it with his own opinion instead of what was good for the people.

Toussaint LOUverture had very many beliefs and many of them had to do with equality of man. Toussaint was an African American slave in France that led his own revolution with the idea of equality of man being his main drive. Equality of man in Toussaint’s eyes was the right to life, liberty, and property for every man not just caucasians. He fought to free his sector of people in France and succeeded.

He was very much influenced by the Catholic Church and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. The Catholic Church were against slavery and condemed it because they thought it to be a horrific sin. Jean-Jacques Rousseau also influenced him with his ideas of equality of man which Jean-Jacques also believed to be for everyone not just caucasians.

He influenced the democratic revolution in England with his extensive ideas of equality of man. The idea of freeing slaves wasn’t the most popular at the time. However, the way Toussaint described it shocked England and it started a new way of thinking.

The democratic revolution in America was also greatly affected. Toussaints beliefs influenced many and led to an extended amount of abolitionists in the United States. One of them being a man named John Laurens who had been inspired by such beliefs to end slavery and make the first ever African American battalion to fight as equals in the Revolutionary war. This battalion helped abolitionist everywhere prove that African American’s are just as good as caucasian men. This was all because of the newly spread ideas of Toussaint.

Toussaint’s ideas also influenced the democratic revolution in France. They did this by showing that it’s possible for anyone to be free. The people of France really needed the inspiration because they were going up against the minority or the king and they wanted to be free of his rule which Toussaint help bring out this revelation with his many ideas on freedom for everyone and equal rights for everyone.

Thomas Jefferson had many beliefs since he was a big influence after the American Revolution and in the making of the constitution. His main idea was absolute acquiescence in the decisions of the majority. This basically means that when you did what the majority wanted you would be happier and it would be fairer. He wanted everyone to be allowed to voice their thoughts, opinions, and feelings.

He witnessed what it was like when the minority ruled. When Great Britain ruled over the United States the king was making all the decisions. This is an example of a minority ruling over a majority such as the Americans. Thomas Jefferson thought this was wrong because the people were never truly represented.

Thomas Jefferson was yet another philosopher influenced by John Locke. John Locke’s opinions and ideas of state of nature and equality of man, his views on private property, social contract and the consent of the majority, and sovereign power were looked onto highly by Jefferson. They were also very prevalent when he was working on the United States constitution. It was penned mostly on John Locke’s Second Treatise on Government.

Thomas Jefferson’s work and ideas can still be seen today. The democratic revolution in England didn’t really come until much later than everyone else’s, but eventually the people realized they weren’t being represented enough. They felt that the majority was the people and their country wasn’t being ruled by their majority like Thomas Jefferson’s ideas intended.

Thomas Jefferson’s ideas had a huge impact on the democratic revolution in America. The whole American Revolution was based on his idea.