Enlightenment Age Locke versus Hobbes

Q1. Who were the philosophes? Describe their major accomplishment as reformers.
The philosophes were the founders of what came to be known as the Enlightenment, individuals such as Voltaire and Montesquieu who demanded that governments honor the rights of all human beings, not simply those who were of high birth. Their conviction in reason led them to support expanding equal rights to all human beings. Authors such as Mary Wollstonecraft created the architecture for what would eventually be equal rights for all women, much as Beccaria created the foundation of modern prison and judicial reform, and Locke the idea of a government that could be dissolved if the sovereign failed to protect the rights of the people.
Q2. What two forms of literature emerged during the Enlightenment? Give an example (title and author) of each one.
The journalistic essay, such as Mary Wollstonecraft’s “Vindication of the Rights of Women” (1792) and the modern novel, such as Pamela, Or Virtue Rewarded by Samuel Richardson (1740) and
Q3. Summarize the main point in Wheatley’s poem, “On Being Brought from Africa to America” (reading 25.2).
Wheatley argues that as Africans are saved by Christ just as whites are, they too can be made whole and ready for salvation in a manner equal to their white brethren.
Q4. What is genre painting? Give an 18th century example (title and artist).
Genre painting attempts to encapsulate everyday life, like Chardin’s The Kitchen Maid.
Q5. Frenchman, Rousseau, criticized the Enlightenment ideal of the value of reason. Summarize one of his major points concerning the natural man and reason.
Rousseau argued that man in a state of nature was superior to that of man being shaped by society, including education which attempted to teach men reason.
Q6. Compare the thinking of the two English Enlightenment philosophers, Thomas Hobbes and John Locke, regarding the essential character of humankind. How are these positions reflected in their ideas about the social contract? Use specific examples from Hobbes’ Leviathan and Locke’s Of Civil Government (excerpted in text) to support your points.
Although both English Enlightenment philosophers, Thomas Hobbes and John Locke, wrote around the same time in English history, they had diametrically opposed views of the appropriate role for government to take in regards to the citizenry. Hobbes viewed human beings as essentially self-interested and cruel. As detailed in Leviathan, he notes that he believes that every man will strive to obtain an advantage over this fellow men, and the strongest will always seek to master the weaker. The only way for life to avoid devolving into a world where existence is, in his famous phrase, “nasty, brutish, and short,” is for a sovereign to dominate all. It should be noted that Hobbes does not necessarily believe that sovereign must rule by divine right or that the sovereign must hold his place by virtue of his birth. But he does believe that the sovereign should not be displaced, given the inevitable warfare and anarchy which will result. Even if a sovereign is cruel and unjust, a world where people rule themselves will be much worse.
Locke, in contrast, views human beings as essentially rational and capable of putting aside short-term impulses in exchange for the benefits of society. As a result, they are capable of fostering a rational social compact with a sovereign who will rule over them. But all human beings possess certain inalienable rights. In Locke’s view, these rights were “life, liberty, and property,” that could not be taken away from the citizen without just cause. If the sovereign abused his authority, the citizenry was within its rights to withdraw the sovereign’s right to rule, as the sovereign had violated his part of the implied social contract. The citizenry could then form a new government which protected their inalienable rights.