From the mid seventeenth to nineteenth centuries, there was an ‘Enlightenment' movement that swept across Europe. The theorists behind this act rejected the ‘original sin' concept, maintained the argument that humans could grow and progress, and stated that humans could reorganize society on the grounds of equality, justice, and freedom. Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau were all members of The Enlightenment movement, and each had their own idea on how human society should be structured and run. Locke and Hobbes lived around the same time, and some of their political theories were the same, however, by the time Rousseau came along, much had changed. Born in Geneva to a middle class watch maker, Jean-Jacques …show more content…

Hobbes' society would be almost tyrannical, but free. Hobbes does not believe, like Rousseau, that humans can live freely in a state of nature, unchecked. He thinks that three things will happen, a) individuals with fight with one another out of fear, b)some individuals will seek high status over other individuals, and c)humans will begin to fight to guarantee their own safety. In Hobbes' society individual not only have the right to ensure self-preservation; There is also the right to judge what will ensure self-preservation. John Locke was born on August twenty-ninth, 1632 in Wrington, England. As a political philosopher, his ideas had huge influence on the development of the liberal government theory, and on the American Constitution. Like Hobbes, Locke saw a society that was made of many equal individuals, looking out for their own interests. Unlike Hobbes, Locke was terrified of a tyrant being in power. He opted for a system of free individuals, controlled by people in a hierarchy of power. The division of power allows the people to dissolve the government if it gets out of control. The government in turn, is more responsive and respectful to the well-being of the people. Locke says that the individual must obey the government because it is necessary for society and it helps pursue self interest. In some areas Hobbes and Rousseau seem to agree, mainly concerning the