de gouges Essay

Submitted By gkg4301994
Words: 576
Pages: 3

Locke and Rousseau have two different views on how laws should be implemented in society. Rousseau is a writer of fiction and social commentaries. Locke was a philosopher and teacher, whom also had ties with the pro-parliament faction of the English government. In 1972, Rousseau published his document “Popular Sovereignty and the General Will 1972”. In 1960, Locke published his document “The Ends of Political Society and Government 1690”. These two men created plenty of publicity. They had changed the of looking at the government during the Enlightment. Rousseau’s document was about the formation of the government. He defined the will as the will of majority. Everyone had free will in the state of nature. On the other hand, in order to rule a government, everyone couldn’t come around with free will and decide what they wanted to do and what they didn’t want to. This basically stated that no man had authority over another. Rousseau thought that the best solution for the people was the treaties or contracts which would have been the best law among the people. Locke’s document spoke about how people having power in order to implement a government, that would take control of the society for preservation of property. He envisioned how people used to be before governments came into play. This meant the rejection of all notion of Divine right and nonresistant on the all-powerful states. He held that government can be unjustly overthrown , they would have to fulfill their function that they have established. If the ruler didn’t go along with the people than the leader could be replaced from the social contract. Locke said that people want to have enjoyment of property, which was the mutual preservation of their lives, liberties and estates. Man had to be under a government that was made to protect their property. Rousseau believed that a man can make new ideas to add to the original but wasn’t able to remake a law. This contrast the idea of Locke who wanted the people to be under a government that would write a new set of laws to follow. Rousseau described the idea as the sum of forces, which meant combined ideas that would