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The Enlightenment has long been seen as the foundation of modern Western political and intellectual culture.<ref>Daniel Brewer, ''The Enlightenment Past: reconstructing eighteenth-century French thought'' (2008), p. 1</ref> The Enlightenment brought [[political modernization]] to the West, in terms of introducing democratic values and institutions and the creation of modern, liberal democracies. This thesis has been widely accepted by scholars and has been reinforced by the large-scale studies by [[Robert Darnton]], [[Roy Porter]], and, most recently, by Jonathan Israel.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=De Dijn |first1=Annelien |author-link=Annelien de Dijn |year=2012 |title=The Politics of Enlightenment: From Peter Gay to Jonathan Israel |journal=Historical Journal |volume=55 |issue=3 |pages=785–805 |doi=10.1017/s0018246x12000301 |s2cid=145439970}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=von Guttner |first=Darius |title=The French Revolution |url=https://www.academia.edu/9869783 |year=2015 |publisher=Nelson Cengage |pages=34–35}}{{Dead link|date=January 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes}}</ref> Enlightenment thought was deeply influential in the political realm. European rulers such as [[Catherine the Great|Catherine II of Russia]], [[Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor|Joseph II of Austria]], and [[Frederick the Great|Frederick II of Prussia]] tried to apply Enlightenment thought on religious and political tolerance, which became known as [[enlightened absolutism]].<ref name="Black" /> Many of the major political and intellectual figures behind the [[American Revolution]] associated themselves closely with the Enlightenment: [[Benjamin Franklin]] visited Europe repeatedly and contributed actively to the scientific and political debates there and brought the newest ideas back to Philadelphia; [[Thomas Jefferson]] closely followed European ideas and later incorporated some of the ideals of the Enlightenment into the [[United States Declaration of Independence|Declaration of Independence]]; and Madison incorporated these ideals into the U.S. Constitution during its framing in 1787.<ref>Robert A. Ferguson, ''The American Enlightenment, 1750–1820'' (1994).</ref>
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====Theories of government====
[[File:John_Locke.jpg|thumb|upright=.8|Philosopher [[John Locke]] argued that the authority of government stems from a [[social contract]] based on [[Natural rights and legal rights|natural rights]]. According to Locke, the authority of government [[limited government|was limited]] and required the [[consent of the governed]].]]
Locke, one of the most influential Enlightenment thinkers,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/locke/influence.html |title=John Locke > The Influence of John Locke's Works (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy) |publisher=Plato.stanford.edu |access-date=14 January 2014}}</ref> based his governance philosophy in [[social contract]] theory, a subject that permeated Enlightenment political thought. English philosopher [[Thomas Hobbes]] ushered in this new debate with his work ''[[Leviathan (Hobbes book)|Leviathan]]'' in 1651. Hobbes also developed some of the fundamentals of European liberal thought: the right of the individual, the natural equality of all men, the artificial character of the political order (which led to the later distinction between [[civil society]] and the state), the view that all legitimate political power must be "[[Representative democracy|representative]]" and based on the consent of the people, and a liberal interpretation of law which leaves people free to do whatever the law does not explicitly forbid.<ref>Pierre Manent, ''An Intellectual History of Liberalism'' (1994) pp. 20–38</ref>
Both Locke and Rousseau developed social contract theories in ''[[Two Treatises of Government]]'' and ''[[Discourse on Inequality]],'' respectively. While quite different works, Locke, Hobbes, and Rousseau agreed that a social contract, in which the government's authority lies in the [[consent of the governed]],<ref>Lessnoff, Michael H. ''Social Contract Theory.'' New York: NYU, 1990. Print.{{page needed|date=February 2020}}</ref> is necessary for man to live in civil society. Locke defines the [[state of nature]] as a condition in which humans are rational and follow natural law, in which all men are born equal and with the [[right to life]], liberty, and property. However, when one citizen breaks the law of nature both the transgressor and the victim enter into a state of war, from which it is virtually impossible to break free. Therefore, Locke said that individuals enter into civil society to protect their natural rights via an "unbiased judge" or common authority, such as courts. In contrast, Rousseau's conception relies on the supposition that "civil man" is corrupted, while "natural man" has no want he cannot fulfill himself. Natural man is only taken out of the state of nature when the inequality associated with [[private property]] is established.<ref>Discourse on the Origin of Inequality</ref> Rousseau said that people join into civil society via the social contract to achieve unity while preserving individual freedom. This is embodied in the sovereignty of the [[general will]], the moral and collective legislative body constituted by citizens.{{citation needed|date=April 2024}}
Locke is known for his statement that individuals have a right to "Life, Liberty, and Property," and his belief that the natural right to property is derived from labor. Tutored by Locke, [[Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury]], wrote in 1706: "There is a mighty Light which spreads its self over the world especially in those two free Nations of England and Holland; on whom the Affairs of Europe now turn."<ref>{{citation |first=B. |last=Rand |title=The Life, Unpublished Letters and Philosophical Regimen of Anthony, Earl of Shaftesbury |year=1900 |page=353}} quoted in {{citation |first=Roy |last=Porter |title=Enlightenment, Britain and the Creation of the Modern World |publisher=Allen Lane, The Penguin Press |year=2000 |page=3}}</ref> Locke's theory of natural rights has influenced many political documents, including the U.S. Declaration of Independence and the French National Constituent Assembly's [[Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen]].
Some ''philosophes'' argued that the establishment of a contractual basis of rights would lead to the [[market mechanism]] and [[capitalism]], the scientific method, religious [[toleration|tolerance]], and the organization of states into self-governing republics through democratic means. In this view, the tendency of the ''philosophes<!-- "philosophes" is correct -->'' in particular to apply [[rationality]] to every problem is considered the essential change.<ref>Lorraine Y. Landry, ''Marx and the postmodernism debates: an agenda for critical theory'' (2000) p. 7</ref>
Although much of Enlightenment political thought was dominated by social contract theorists, Hume and Ferguson criticized this camp. Hume's essay ''Of the Original Contract'' argues that governments derived from consent are rarely seen and civil government is grounded in a ruler's habitual authority and force. It is precisely because of the ruler's authority over-and-against the subject that the subject tacitly consents, and Hume says that the subjects would "never imagine that their consent made him sovereign," rather the authority did so.<ref>''Of the Original Contract''</ref> Similarly, Ferguson did not believe citizens built the state, rather polities grew out of social development. In his 1767 ''[[An Essay on the History of Civil Society]],'' Ferguson uses the four stages of progress, a theory that was popular in Scotland at the time, to explain how humans advance from a [[Hunter-gatherer|hunting and gathering]] society to a commercial and civil society without agreeing to a social contract.
Both Rousseau's and Locke's social contract theories rest on the presupposition of [[Natural rights and legal rights|natural rights]], which are not a result of law or custom but are things that all men have in pre-political societies and are therefore universal and inalienable. The most famous natural right formulation comes from Locke's ''Second Treatise,'' when he introduces the state of nature. For Locke, the law of nature is grounded on mutual security or the idea that one cannot infringe on another's natural rights, as every man is equal and has the same inalienable rights. These natural rights include perfect equality and freedom, as well as the right to preserve life and property.
Locke argues against [[indentured servitude]] on the basis that enslaving oneself goes against the law of nature because a person cannot surrender their own rights: freedom is absolute, and no one can take it away. Locke argues that one person cannot enslave another because it is morally reprehensible, although he introduces a caveat by saying that enslavement of a [[Prisoner of war|lawful captive in time of war]] would not go against one's natural rights.
====Enlightened absolutism====
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