How Thomas Hobbes and John Locke influenced Enlightenment Thinkers Essay

The Age of Enlightenment saw many great changes in Western Europe. The Age of Enlightenment or simple the Enlightenment was an mental movement during the 18th century. Its purpose was to reform society and to advance noesis using reason and the scientific knowledge. It supported scientific thought and remote superstition with its favorite target being the Catholic Church. The phrase was ofttimes use by writers of the dot itself, implying that they were emerging from centuries of darkness and ignorance into an prescience period fueled by reason and science.The ones who sparked the information can be traced to the seventeenth century. They include the two semipolitical philosophers doubting doubting doubting Thomas Hobbes and rear Locke. Thomas Hobbes was innate(p) on April 5, 1588 and he was best known for his work on political philosophy. His book Leviathan founded the foundation for most of Western political philosophy. In Leviathan, Hobbes set out his doctrine of the found ations of submits and legitimate governments. Much of the book demonstrates the necessary of a strong central authority to avoid chaos and disorder.Hobbes hypothesizes what keep would be like with no government, a state which he c eithers the state of nature. In that state, each person would take a crap a right to everything in the world. However, he argues that it would lead to a war against all because he believed that all masses were evil and selfish. In order to avoid this state, people establish a civil society and conceive a social contract. gibe to Hobbes, society is a population under a supreme authority. Thomas Hobbes is a supporter of absolutism but he also veritable some of the fundamentals of liberal thoughts much(prenominal) as the rights of an individual and par for all.He was also one of the founders of modern political science as well. His understanding on humans as being matter and spare-time activity the same concepts and laws as other matter remains extr emely influential. John Locke was natural on August 29, 1632 and he was one of the most influential English philosophers during the enlightenment period. Lockes theory of soul is referred to as the fount of conceptions of self and identities. He theorized that the mind is a blank slate and that we were born with only instinctive ideas and that knowledge is only derived from go across.The founding fathers of the United States used many of his political ideas as the bases for the declaration of independence. Locke believed in a elective find and that everyone is entitled to their own rights and liberty. He thought that nobody should lease sacrosanct power so he came up with the idea of withdrawal of powers meaning that the church and judicial system operate independent of the reigning class so theoretically no one can localize a crime and get away with it.Even though Thomas Hobbes and John Locke were both influential social contract theorists and great political philosopher s, their ideas completely contradict each other. While Locke believed that humans were born with a clean slate and only gain knowledge through experience and experiment, Hobbes theorized that all humans were born with an evil and selfish nature which cannot be contained without a supreme authority to rule.In terms of political power, Locke believed in democratic rule while Hobbes believed in an absolute power to rule over the evil and selfish humans for if there is no absolute power, our savage instincts will take over and we will do some(prenominal) it takes to satisfy our greedy nature. As for rights, Locke believed all men are catch rights but Hobbes concluded that we should give up our rights to the government in put back for protection. The Enlightenment was a great step in humanity to shed light on strides in science and let reason explain our lives.Enlightenment ideas and whole kit have been especially influential in politics. Many of the worlds democracies are built on t he ideas of Locke and other political philosophers in the enlightenment period. Democratic nations, such as the United States are founded upon enlightenment ideas such as individual rights and liberty, the rights of citizens, and peoples rights to participate in the government. However, distinguishable political philosophers have different ideas about whats best for their government.For instance, Thomas Hobbes believed in absolute monarchs, an idea which is still used today in places like Canada, Japan, Spain, and the United Kingdoms. The Enlightenment completely revolutionized the way people have thought about religion, politics, and science. It was one of the greatest events in history because it gave people the idea to challenge what theyve always been taught to be right. It gave people a mind of their own and not fall to one supreme ruler. The legacy of the enlightenment shall never be forgotten.