Compare And Contrast John Locke And Montesquieu

Locke’s Foundation America was not only diverse in race and religious backgrounds, but political views varied as well, which created varying degrees of discourse within the republic. However, John Locke’s ideas were admired and influential to the formation of the American government. Thomas Jefferson, one of America’s founding fathers, believed so strongly in Locke’s political philosophy that Locke’s influence was reflected in Jefferson’s writings. Despite the diversity of the American people and unprecedented changes throughout American history, the American people were still guided by his philosophy from colonization in the Americas to the conclusion of the American Civil War.

During Locke years of service to Shaftesbury, he begins to write. When he came back to England he published all of his work. As one of the founder of the Whigs party, it pushed for constitutional monarch and it stood in the opposition to the dominant Tories. In Locke’s turning point, Two Treatises of Government, had pushed his revolutionary ideas concerning of the natural rights of man and also the social contract. Both of his concepts

He took the decision to study medicine in England. John Locke believed that one could choose the religion that they most liked. He became an influential philosopher writing about political philosophy, education and epistemology. His writing helped the foundation of modern Western philosophy. In the year 1690 he published an essay about the understanding of human, which became a great impact in his career.

John Locke was a philosopher and political scientist. He had many interests and produced a number of writings that influenced future leaders. One of these leaders was Thomas Jefferson, who was involved with the aid of America and the act gaining independence from Britain. The Declaration of Independence and Locke’s views on government contain many similar aspects. These ideas includes the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness (natural rights); the protection that is provided by the government for these rights; and the altering or abolishment of government if it fails to provide and protect the rights of the people.

Ultimately, Locke had a great influence in the American Constitution with the message within his philosophies on human rights and government. Baron de Montesquieu's • Montesquieu’s introduced the separation of

John Locke wrote the Second Treatise of Government in 1689 following many civil wars in Europe. James Harrington was arrested for his writing five years after he wrote Oceana in 1656. Both of these men’s ideas concerning the structure and purpose of government proved to be particularly influential in creating The Constitution and The Bill of Rights. John Locke influenced the Constitution by explaining that each individual in a society is born with natural rights and we give up part of these rights to gain better protection. The Second Treatise says, “The only way whereby any one divests himself of his natural liberty, and puts on the bonds of civil society, is by agreeing with other men to join and unite into a community for their comfortable, safe, and peaceable living one amongst another, in a secure enjoyment of their properties, and a greater security against any, that are not of it” (Locke 46).

His ideas influenced the constitution with the separation of powers. The Enlightenment philosophers influenced America’s government. John Locke’s ideas were echoed in the Declaration of Independence. Montesquieu Separation of powers was enforced in the U.S. constitution.

Has one ever wondered how one retain ideas within the mind? The Essay Concerning Human Understanding by John Locke describes his epistemology of the development of mind is by experience and challenges the notion of innate ideas. In this paper, I will strongly argue the importance of the explanation of Locke’s point and the relation the Locke’s wider thesis, and the argument of perfect line or circle. Hence, let me commence the analysis of Locke and his comprehension.

He suggested that man was “born without innate ideas”, and that he began as a tabula rasa, which is a translation for an erased tablet (John Locke: The Mind as a “Tabula Rasa”). This concept of a tabula rasa stated that “people gradually acquired knowledge” from experience. He believed that man could distinguish from good and bad, and that he was also capable of and free to “order his actions and dispose of his possessions” without having to rely on others (Seminar #3: Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau, p. 5). Everyone was equal to each other in terms of “power and jurisdiction being reciprocal”, and “no one having more than another” (p.

Montesquieu stated that the best way to secure liberty and prevent a corrupted government was to divide the powers of government among separate groups that could check and manage one another. Madison and the other Founding Fathers listened to Montesquieu and established an executive, legislative, and judiciary branch in the federal Constitution as well as a system of checks and balances. In conclusion, Enlightenment thinkers greatly influenced the Founding Fathers in the creation of the Declaration of Independence. These Enlightenment thinkers included John Locke, Joan-Jacques Rousseau, Charles Montesquieu, and many more. Their ideas of natural rights, checks and balances, consent, and division of power are not only found in the Declaration of Independence but are still used and are relevant

In contrast, Locke believes, that knowledge can only have a high degree of certainty but cannot be certain. Since he does not focus much on certainty in his works, he believes that perception can play a major part in the process of knowledge. He further reiterates that knowledge is based on observations and senses. According to his him, ideas come from reflection and sensation while knowledge is founded on experience In summary, I have covered the respective positions and views that both Locke and Descartes hold in respect with self-identity and consciousness.

John Locke states that we can acquire knowledge via sense perceptions even though this kind of knowledge is not like that of demonstration. He argues this through the use of his readings and his quotations. They accurately represent what he thinks and how he goes about experimenting this idea. John Locke explains knowledge into two different types and gives examples to support these kinds of knowledge. His first point isintuitive knowledge.

“The alternative development of the Lockean view I suggest adds to the recognition of the importance of memory and brute self-consciousness a recognition of the importance of being intelligible to ourselves.”

Locke goes all the way and claims that ideas come from our sensations and that all knowledge is based on

Additionally, the writings he had written had challenged philosophies of thinkers of the time. Furthermore, Locke was the first person to identify himself through his consciousness and then began to believe there were endless possibilities of the human mind. In his “Essay Concerning Human Understanding,” he advanced a theory of the self as a blank page, with knowledge and identity arising only from accumulative experience. Written in four separate books, each pertaining to a section of his explanation, its purpose was to, “to enquire into the original, certainty and extant of human knowledge, together with the grounds and degrees of belief, opinion and assent.” Nevertheless, John Locke influenced the world more than just the philosophy of human understanding, he also greatly influenced the way we think of government and religious toleration.