The Age of Enlightenment The Philosophes. Niccolo Machiavelli In his book The Prince Machiavelli argues that the best type of government is one that…………………..

The Age of Enlightenment

The Philosophes

Niccolo Machiavelli

In his book The Prince Machiavelli argues that the best type of government is one that…………………..

Is the most ruthless, deceitful and conniving

The Prince was a blueprint for dictatorship

Dictatorship – a type of government that governs without the consent of the governed

Dictators do this by keeping their subjects scared, hungry, poor, and uneducated

Conservative – promotes traditional institutions and gradual and slow change within society

Liberal – promotes change in society and a move away from traditions

Moderate – promotes a position that is in between the liberal and conservative positions

Radical – promotes a position that is outside of the positions of liberal and conservative

L CMR R

Starting PointWants to move away from starting point

Wants to go back to a previous starting point

Thomas Hobbes

In his book Leviathan Hobbes explains the social contract theory which he describes as…………………..

Humans unite into political societies by a process of mutual consent in which they agree to abide by the laws in return for protection from violence

Nature is chaos because humans

are self interested beings

So humans enter into civil society by “signing “ a social contract

Humans give up their rights in

return for security

Abuse of authority is the price to

pay for safety

The best type of

government is absolute

monarchy

ConservativeLiberal

John Locke

In his book The Second Treatises of Government Locke argued that when humans are born they are a……………….

It's your duty

Tabula Rasa

Or Blank slate, that we have no innate knowledge, rather we go through life acquiring knowledge through our senses and perceptions, therefore if all humans are blank slates then we are all…….

Locke is the first to philosopher to state that “all men are created equal”, it was an extremely radical idea for it’s time

Because we are born as “blank slates” the we are individuals that we have created ourselves. We own our bodies, our minds and the time

that we spend on this Earth

Because of this we are born with three rights, life, liberty and estate. Government did not give us these rights, nature gave us these rights. Humans created government in order to protect these rights.

Locke goes on to say that if the government does not protect these rights, it is the duty of the people to overthrow the government and create one that will

protect those rights

Nature’s creator gives all humans

three natural rights at birth, life, liberty and

estate

Because of this all men are

created equal

Humans create government to protect those

rights

If that government

doesn’t protect those rights it is the

duty of the people to

overthrow it

The best type of government is a

constitutional democratic

republic

Constitution

Legal Code

Invaders Invaders

Voltaire

Voltaire spent most of his life in and out of jail because of his religion and things that he said so he wrote that best type of government is one that gives it’s people the………………….

Freedom of Religion And

Freedom of Speech

Montesquieu

Montesquieu argued that the best type of government is one that………………..

Has separate branches of government, one that makes the law, one that

enforces the law and one that judges those who have been accused of

breaking the law. To ensure that the government does not become corrupt it should be chosen by the people and the government should educate the

people to ensure they choose good and honest leaders. The people also need

to be educated so they are able to realize when the government is taking

advantage of them

G

PeopleEducationGood Leaders

Humans acquire property in order to maximize pleasure, so a government should leave people free to acquire property

David Hume

Property

Adam Smith

Smith spent fifteen years traveling around Europe studying the economies of each country. In his book The Wealth of Nations Smith argued that the best type of government is one that………………………

The government that governs least governs the best

Free Market Capitalism(Laissez Faire Capitalism)

an economic system in which prices and wages are determined by

unrestricted competition between businesses, without government

interference.

Spontaneous Order

Allows people the freedom to pursue there own self interests which in turn benefits the society as a

whole. This allows for competition which brings out the best in man and allows for the “invisible hand” of

demand to decide what things society wants and what it does not want

The free market rules and will fix itself

The government should not interfere in the economy

Every single day we vote on what we want

Using……………………..

Wealth is like a pie

It is created by people and the bigger it is the more people get to eat itThe wealthy haven’t stolen their piece of the pie from the poor

They have just baked a bigger pie

The one thing the government should do is protect our property and our right to own property

-Personal ownership of property (deeds, titles, wills etc.)

- laws against harming or destroying property (vandalism, stealing)

- take very little property from us (low taxes)

- have as little interference as possible in the trade of property (regulations)

- settle disputes about property (lawsuits)

- Protect intellectual property (patents, trademarks, copyrights)

Patent – ownership of an idea or invention and the rights to that idea

Copyright – ownership of literary, artistic or musical property

Trademark – ownership of a name, symbol or picture that represents a company

Adam Smith is considered the Father of………………

Capitalism

He didn’t invent it, he just explained it

Classical Liberalism the political ideology that advocates personal, political economic and religious freedom with a limited government under the rule of law and

Political Freedom Personal FreedomEconomic Freedom Religious Freedom

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

In his book the Social Contract Rousseau argues that……………………..

Let Us Unite

Nature is a cruel and ruthless place

Because of this humans enter into the social

contract in order to cooperate and

survive

The creation of private

property and religion ruined everything and

man had to create law

So government only protects

those with property and

it is unfair

Humans have to “throw off chains of society” to find the will of the people

The best form of government is a

small direct democracy with

no private property

Money, Religion, Work and Marriage are the chains of society, art, music and free love will unchain us

Maximillian Robespierre

Modern Liberalism

The belief that government should take an active role in ensuring social equality amongst it’s citizens by addressing economic and social issues that lead

to inequality

Equality = Harmony

Modern Conservative(Classical Liberalism)Modern Liberalism

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Tyranny

Oligarchy

Democracy

Machiavelli

Authority

LibertyMore, Hobbes and Rousseau

Locke, Smith, Voltaire, Hume Montesquieu