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Thomas Hobbes
"Hobbes argued that to escape such a bleak life, peo-
ple gave up their rights to a strong ruler. In exchange,
they gained law and order."(Black and Beck 551) He stated that in order to make people's lives less mundane then he would have them give over their individual rights to someone who would keep order and peace. -
John Locke
"As reasonable beings, they had the natural ability to govern their
own affairs and to look after the welfare of society."(Black and Beck 551) John Locke believed that humans where born as sensible creatures and that we could govern ourselves should the need arise. -
Mary Astell
"Mary Astell published A Serious Proposal to the Ladies. Her book addressed the lack of educational opportunities for women."(Black and Beck ) Astell advocated for women's rights to education and then on to the unequal relationship between men's rights and women's rights in marriage. -
François Marie Arouet a.k.a Voltaire
"Voltaire never stopped fighting for tolerance,
reason, freedom of religious belief, and freedom of speech."(Black and Beck 553) Voltaire believed in the rights of freedom and other freedoms that we hold dear today. -
Montesquieu
"Like Voltaire, Montesquieu believed that Britain was the best-governed country of his own day. Here was a government, he thought, in which power was balanced among three groups of officials."(Black and Beck 553) Montesquieu agreed with Voltaire that Britain was a governmental role model. He described it to be the perfect balance that checked itself. -
Jean Jacques Rousseau
"In 1762, he explained his political philosophy in a book called The Social Contract."(Black and Beck 554) Rousseau believed that having a government required a social contract and if that contract was broken then the people were no longer bound to having a government and could rebel. -
Cesare Bonesana Beccaria
"He believed that laws existed to preserve social order, not to avenge crimes. In his celebrated book On Crimes and Punishments (1764),"(Black and Beck ) Beccaria believed that the only reason for for there to be laws and rules was so that peace and social order would be preserved. -
Mary Wollstonecraft
"In the essay, she disagreed with Rousseau that women’s education should be secondary to men’s. Rather, she argued that women, like men, need education to become virtuous and useful. Even if they are to be mothers, education will make them better mothers."(Black and Beck) Mary disagreed with Rousseau on the topic of education and made it clear in an essay that women need education to be more useful and to be better at what they were doing at the time.
