enlightenment affected american wave and
Excerpt from Essay:
As a result of wording of the “Declaration of Independence, inch Locke is perhaps the most famous Enlightenment influence upon the Starting Fathers. Yet , a number of Ls Enlightenment philosophers had wonderful influence upon the shape from the new land: “Jean-Jacques Rousseaudistrusted the aristocrats not away of a desire for change but as they believed these were betraying good traditional valuesRousseau argued that inequality had not been only not naturally made, but that – once taken past an acceptable limit – it made respectable government impossible” (Brians 2002). The French philosopher Voltaire’s irreverent attitude towards religion and Rousseau’s meticulous belief in the integrity of the ‘natural’ guy, untouched legally and custom, is shown in the Beginning Founders’ thoughts of a culture that was based upon a rule of law, rather than upon the whims of a leader. Rights rather than birthright were to control the new American state.
The philosopher of criminology Beccaria’s influence must not be underestimated, either, upon the shaping with the new country. Beccaria believed in the malleability of human nature: laws could possibly be used to condition human being’s decision-making. Criminal offense and consequence could be educational, rather than harshly brutal. Abuse should not be utilized to keep people in line through fear: punishment must be selected, swift, nevertheless proportionate. These types of ideas had been later reflected in the U. S. Constitutional prohibitions against cruel and unusual abuse (Hoffman 2002).
Another often-forgotten philosophical impact in the starting of the American system is those of Montesquieu, who have said: “In republican governments, men are all equal; equal they are also in despotic governments: in the former, because they are every thing; in the last mentioned, because they are absolutely nothing. ” His belief inside the right of every individual to optimize their delight, so long as that did not harm others, and “his beliefs in the equilibrium of electricity and the division of authority like a weapon against despotic regulation by people or groups or majorities” also endures in the U. S. Cosmetic today (“Montesquieu, ” Thoughts worth pondering, 2010).
Works Cited
Brians, Paul. “The Enlightenment. inch University of Wisconsin-Madison. Drive 11, 1998. Last
Revised May 18, 2000. Feb 10, 2010. http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/hum_303/enlightenment.html
Hoffman, Bruce. “Beccaria. ” Criminal offense Theory. January 2002. March 10, 2010.
http://www.crimetheory.com/ClasPos/oncp.htm
“Montesquieu. ” Thoughts worth thinking. February 12, 2010.
http://www.rjgeib.com/thoughts/montesquieu/montesquieu.html
- Category: history
- Words: 446
- Pages: 2
- Project Type: Essay