Kohlton - Rousseau & Locke

The Age of Enlightenment was a great time of philosophers that brought many great ideas to the world. The most influential and important philosophers of the time were John Locke and Jean Rousseau. Rousseau was raised in a poor family so he had a perspective on the world that not many other philosophers had at the time. Locke grew up during the glorious revolution which showed him the good side of humanity. At the core of their beliefs they thought that humans were good, and can cooperate with each other. They also shared views on government and thought it was necessary but shouldn’t have total power over the people they ruled. Locke and Rousseau had the most accurate opinions on human nature and government out of the enlightened philosophers.

Emily - Hobbes

The English civil war was a battle which lasted 7 years between the parliament and the royalists of England. This was a big part in Thomas Hobbes ( 1588-1679) life, for this affected his views on society and government majorly. He thought that people were greedy and violent and not capable of governing themselves.  I believe Hobbes is the best philosopher because he has the most reason and I think without absolute power.

Hobbes grew up in England and had his father abandon him, his mother, older brother and younger sister when Hobbes was at a very young age. Hobbes was educated Westport church, the, Malmesbury school and then he went to a private school. In about 1603 he went to Magdalen Hall, which is basically Hertford College, Oxford. The principal at the institution l John Wilkinson was a Puritan, a group of English Protestants who became a major political force in England and received power because of the Civil war, and he had some influence on Hobbes and his views.

Hobbes had two huge aspects to his picture of human nature: what motivates human beings to act is very important to him. The other aspect concerns human powers of judgment and reasoning, in which Hobbes was very iffy about. He wanted to see the worst in people and he tried to back it up with science and a lot of personal belief based of his own experiences. Hobbes had many reasons for thinking that human judgment was undependable, and needed to be guided by science. Human judgment is often centered around that persons own benefit at the particular moment.

Weston - Locke

The Enlightenment was a time of great philosophers who had different ideas for society and government. John Locke was the best philosopher because of how his ideas about society impacted future generations and governments. Locke thought government should establish order in society. John Locke was the best philosopher because he believed in a government that would maintain order in a society of reasonable people.

J.J. Rousseau

The enlightenment was a period of constant questioning of society and government. The people often questioning these concepts were deemed philosophers and had an impact on how the public seen everyday life and lived their life. Philosopher’s views were shaped by the time period in which they lived through, events that had affected them in that time period and often times the class of family they belonged to. One popular philosopher of the enlightenment period was JJ Rousseau, whose views changed the way people saw society and their ways of live.