Foundational Philosophers
The focal philosophers of this project are from the Early Modern era in Western philosophy. Each provides a building block for the others to follow but can be divived into creating the practical political foundations or the ideal.
Focal philosophers:
- Thomas Hobbes: an English philosopher who articulated that the power of the sovereign comes from the people
- John Locke: an English philosopher who took the idea of the consent of the governed and subverted it to support democratic processes
- He articulated that there are certain rights that the government cannot take away and that the people have a right to resist governments who treat the people poorly
- Jean-Jacques Rousseau: a French philosopher who articulated the idea of the general will, often understood as the common good, building on Locke's idea of democracy
- Immanuel Kant: a Prussian philosopher who expanded the idea of the general will into the Categorical Imperative, creating a universalized perception of human dignity
- He also created the idea of a League of Nations which would influence the founding of the organization of the same name and the United Nations
The main philosophical texts analyzed are as follows:
- Hobbes's Leviathan
- Locke's Second Treatise on Government
- Rousseau's On the Social Contract
- Kant's Groundwork of the Metaphysic of Morals and Political Writings