Aristotle, Hobbes, Locke Aristotle, Locke, Hobbes and the U.S. Constitution and Declaration of Independence It has been said that authors such as Aristotle, Locke and Hobbes greatly influenced the "Founding Fathers" of the United States Constitution. The purpose of this paper is to explore the writings of these authors as well as review the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution and to form an opinion as to whether or not it

Inevitably and intrinsically, the ultimate objective and, as such, the ultimate end, of an individual human being will be to be happy. The question that Aristotle is asking is what are the required actions (and the required function) that lead to happiness. His answer is that these are all actions that are in accordance to human reason. With human reason also comes the necessity to act within certain extremes and

Locke and Proast: Religious Toleration Proast's main criticisms of Locke's Letter Concerning Toleration are that the government does have a right and, indeed, a duty to use moderate force in order to compel its subjects to adhere to the one true religion -- which in Proast's view is the religion of the Anglican Church. This was in response to Locke's contention that by attempting to regulate religion, the State supported conflict,

Greek philosophers Plato and Aristotle explored the concept of political philosophy (Trajkovic). In the process of exploring such concept, both came to the agreement that the best form of government was that which every man can act best and live happily. In considering how such a government might be organized Plato and Aristotle discussed the concept the rule of law. The rule of law is the principle that no

This is Aristotle's launching pad for his discussion of politics. To him, ethics and politics are matters of rational judgment, stemming from the natural inclinations of individual humans. This notion is reflected in Aristotle's analysis of the constitutional doctrines of some 158 cities. Essentially, he recognized that every state -- necessarily city states -- exist in unique sets of circumstances that act upon the universal forms of ethics in ways

According to utilitarian ethical theory, a lie would be very moral indeed if it increased someone's happiness without creating detriment to anyone -- telling a child that their unintelligible crayon markings is a great picture of a house, for instance, boosts their self-esteem and helps them to feel loved, and no one in the art world suffers for this white lie. Utilitarianism also provides a solution to conflicting duties that