Philosophers Flashcards
Machiavelli
Book- The Prince. Monarchs should rule, focus should be on gaining and keeping power, they should do everything it takes to keep power, and people should follow their orders.
Hobbes
Book- Leviathan. A powerful king with the authority to punish those who didn’t follow the rules should rule, if a leader is bad people should not care if they’re strong, the state of nature is every man for himself and it’s a survival of the fittest, he believed in a social contract where people agree to give up some freedom in exchange for protection.
Locke-
Book- Second Treatise of Government. Government should rule and protect citizen’s property, life, and health. State of nature is peaceful with natural rights and social contract. Vocab- natural rights and equality, liberty, property, and unalienable. If a leader is bad, people’s responsibility is to overthrow them and rebuild the government (consent of the governed).
Montesquieu-
Book- The Spirit of the Laws. Two types of governments are democratic republic (the people elect a representative) and aristocratic republic (where rich or noble people govern the commoners). Montesque wrote about rule of law (all citizens are equal including government members) and he thought of separation of power so no branch has the power to abuse the rights of people. The branches are legislative, judicial, and executive.
Rousseau
Book- Second Discourse and The Social Contract. State of nature- A peaceful time where people can get everything they need from nature. He thought direct democracy is best where all citizens vote on the decisions affecting society and the majority wins. He thought that type of government would give everyone equal political power. He was against representatives since they could never give another person’s will. He was also against protecting the minority on issues.
Which philosophe was the most influential on America’s structure of government?
Be sure to explain your answer. Montesque because the US is a democratic republic, and he influenced the creation of the separation of powers in the US.
