Philosophers who Influenced the Founders
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http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/hobbes/
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/hobbes-moral/
http://www.egs.edu/library/thomas-hobbes/biography/
Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679):
Thomas Hobbes is best known for his political philosophy, though he was also interested in
other areas. He originated the idea of the “social contract” between governments and their citizens,
which could be explicit or implicit, and differentiated between “natural rights” – which every person has,
and which cannot be taken away – and “legal rights” that citizens have under a government. He
maintained that, while people might give up some rights in order to grant the government the power it
needed to function effectively, they retained the right to resist or even disobey the government in some
circumstances.
http://www.egs.edu/library/john-locke/biography/
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/locke/
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/locke-moral/
John Locke (1632-1704):
John Locke was an English philosopher who discussed the social contract. He believed that
people are born without innate ideas, that the mind is a blank slate until a person’s experience causes
him or her to learn. He also discussed the idea of natural rights, and specifically argued that people have
the right to “life, liberty, and property,” which is believed to have inspired (at least partly) the similar
phrase “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” in the Declaration of Independence. He argued that
people transfer some of their rights to their government, exchanging some freedoms for the benefits
that an organized society can bring, such as legal protection against others infringing their rights and the
ability to settle disputes without resorting to violence. Like Hobbes, he maintained that the people
retained some rights.
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/montesquieu/
Baron de Montesquieu, Charles-Louis de Secondat (1689-1755):
Baron de Montesquieu was a French political philosopher. He analyzed different forms of
government and examined their shortcomings, describing ways to limit and prevent corruption. He
discussed ways to limit the power of government and the risk of despotism by separating executive,
legislative, and judicial powers, and by binding all three with the rule of law. The framers of the U.S.
Constitution seized on this last idea in particular, and it can be clearly seen in the way the different
Philosophers who Influenced the Founders
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branches of government can restrain each others’ power. He was also very concerned with preventing
government from devolving into despotism, which he considered unstable as well as morally
objectionable.
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/rousseau/
http://www.egs.edu/library/jean-jacques-rousseau/biography/
Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778):
Jean-Jacques Rousseau believed that people living in a society, because they were dependent on
each other for even basic necessities and products like food, clothing, or building materials, were at risk
of losing some degree of freedom. Preserving freedom as much as possible was a major concern of his
philosophy. Politically, he was concerned with creating institutions that allow free and equal citizens to
co-exist, making them sovereign. He believed that people could only act in a moral fashion when they
had freedom of choice. As a result, despotic governments were particularly bad in his view, because the
restrictions they placed on people robbed their actions of moral weight. At the same time, his writings
indicate that a well-designed government could improve things for its citizens, by placing them on an
equal footing with each other so that they would not infringe on each other’s freedom. If a government
is answerable to its people, then their own will is expressed in its laws, so the loss of freedom is minimal.
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/voltaire/
http://www.egs.edu/library/voltaire/biography/
Voltaire (1694-1778):
Voltaire was a French writer, philosopher, and historian. An outspoken man, he advocated
freedom of religion, freedom of expression, and also favored separation between church and state, all
three of which were principles that resonated strongly with the framers of the Constitution. He took
issue with intolerance, religious dogma, and many established institutions, including the Catholic
Church. While his real name was François-Marie Arouet, many people only recognize his pseudonym,
Voltaire.