In the book “The Leviathan” Thomas Hobbes classifies and defines mechanisms that a society must have, in order to achieve balance. For Hobbes, the main purpose of a government is to guarantee an “original condition of mankind” that all humans are born with. He bases his theory in assumptions about the nature of humanity, which, in his logic, is grim and negative. The theory establishes the bases of what every human seeks. Everyman is guaranteed the “original condition,” where everyone gets what they want without being concerned about others.
You can see in the text of the document, and even in the list of reasons given to separate from Great Britain, Locke's words, ideas, and theories coming into play. In Locke's Second Treatise of Government provided a framework as to why we should act on all these grievances and declare independence. His ideas focused on the theory of a "state of nature" in which all men are equal. One of the most noticeable instances of direct influence is in the preamble, where our Declaration proclaims the right of every man to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness". Locke's Treatises provides everyone with a right to defend their "life, health, liberty, or possessions".
The Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Declaration of the Rights of Women reflected many ideas of the Enlightenment, some of the key principles were liberty and equality. The Enlightenment took scientific reasoning and applied it to human nature, society and religion. The influence of the philosophers is obvious, with Voltaire's support of religious freedom being expressed in the Declaration by saying that "no man may be accused, because of his opinions, even religious..." and Rousseau's belief about personal liberty expressed in "The Social Contract" is reflected through the statement that "All men are born free and equal in rights." During the Enlightenment, women began to demanding that the new reformist rhetoric about liberty, equality, and natural rights be applied to both sexes. But Initially, Enlightenment philosophers focused on the inequities of social class and caste to the exclusion of gender.
The highest moral right is liberty and from it any other goods will follow. These secondary rights could include freedom to get married, or be a musician, but these are to be pursued privately. Negative liberty is “freedom from”, only when an individual is free to make his own decisions and actions without coercion is a person truly free (Machan 5). This “freedom from” emphasizes right before good. According to Hospers The essential ingredient in all freedom from coercion by other is one’s basic and inalienable right; it is fundamental to human survival and the development of the self (Machan 8).
Paine used Common Sense as a great tool to let the commoners and less educated to gain some insight on the role and purpose of government. Firstly, Paine makes a distinction between government and society. Paine states: “Society is everything constructive and good that people join together to accomplish. Government, on the other hand, is an institution whose sole purpose is to protect us from our own vices. Government has its origins in the evil of man and is therefore a necessary evil at best.” He goes on to say that “government's sole purpose is to protect life, liberty and property, and that a government should be judged solely on the basis of the extent to which it accomplishes this goal.” Basically, Paine is stating to the common people that they have the opportunity to form their own representation of government and do it in a way that truly represents their wants and needs.
Hobbes believed that human beings need to choose an absolute monarch ruler to lead the people or similar to absolutism. He supposed that people are essentially self-center and driven by the “right to self-preservation.” If people have no absolute authority on top of them, then “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short” would follow. In order to have a successful government, social order must be placed because people would feel secure enough to obey the laws; therefore, absolute authority protects people’s rights. On the other hand, Locke believed that government’s only interest was to protect people’s life, liberty and property. He has a positive view of human nature.
Thus, the fear of punishment by sovereign makes promise keeping possible. In his argument for relativism, Hobbes, thus, argues that morality exists only in society and that the people, through a covenant, ensure their security by appointing a leader who will enforce a given moral law.
Locke argues that all men are of the same species making them all equal and placed on the same rank. He uses this to justify why all human beings deserve to participate in government and not be ruled blindly by an absolute monarch. During this time kings were viewed as superior to other human beings; Locke argues that since we all are of the same species that their is no “superior” human being. This point then helps Locke explain why all humans deserve to take part in how they are governed. Along with his ideas of human equality and the elimination of social hierarchy, Locke also advocated man's natural right to freedom.
Natural rights are universal in scope and binding on human behavior just like the physical laws of nature. The concept of natural right can be compared to that of legal right. A natural right is one that is deemed to exist even when it is not enforced by government or society, while a legal right is specifically enforced by government or society (Wikipedia, 2007). The question of which rights are natural and which rights are legal is important in philosophy and politics. Critics of natural rights argue that all human rights are legal rights and that natural rights do not exist, whereas the proponents of natural rights state that the founding documents like the American Declaration of Independence make natural rights valid by implication (Wikipeda, 2007).
Society is coordinated and unified by the general will. All people are born free, but the natural freedom is not achieved until these people enter into a social contract. According to Rousseau, natural freedom is acquired by allowing the General Will to be the ruling factor of a government. In order to enter into Rousseau's social contract, personal freedom must be given up. By disregarding the state of nature, the powers of each individual is directed towards a common interest.