American government ? 01/22/10 -Grace of God- Divine right of Kings- disobedience to a king, means someone who had been ordained by god. -theocracies- dictatorships ruled my military with the spiritual power as well -Kings were defenders of the faith, of church. (fid def -risk excommunication if wronged the king, or condemned to eternal hell -not much thought on the connection between human nature and government -protestant reformation ? had break up of monopoly of power with catholic church, 16th century - there was a period of unremitting religious warfare that would last until the middle of the 17th century -Spiritual monopoly was being challenged -there were questions about what government was really about? -Italien philosopher, Florentine- -Machievelli ? conjures of images of manipu;ative, power hungry, added to discussion between government and man, he had suspicions about human nature, that people were cunning and treacherous - Machievelli said you need a government that recognized the negative aspects of human nature -Thought It is the nature of man to acquire power -State of nature ? example = survivor, go out and govern yourselves - if there was a period of no government, what were people like, did they cooperate, were they in constant war? -British philosophers- Thomas Hobbes ? 1588-1679 ? born 10 after the Spanish armada -royal legitimacy made you ruled by divine right, it progressed seamlessly, all who ruled by the grace of God -Obedience was absolute to the King -Hobbes said it was a pragmatic arrangement, it has nothing to do with God, -social contract- hobbes based this upon his own view on the state of nature, his view was more dismal, living in a country with religious conflicts, -wrote Leviathan- men may be born free, but they are also born as brutes, always at each others throats, government needs to be strong to control people?s tendencies, the lives of men are solitary, nasty, brutish without this control -They surrender for the protection of their lives, that was the compromise Hobbes suggested. So obey and then you will be protected -Jonah was traveling my boat, booked passage on boat and during the voyage a big storm came up, the crew being superstitious thought jonah was brought on board that?s why the seas were enraged and brought them misfortune, crew tossed him over, terrible accusation upon him. Jonah is swallowed by a great fish, (a whale?) the word for it is Leviathan, means something really big, is all warm and cozy in the belly of the beast, caught in chaos, disorder, knowing that at any moment they can be swallowed by the sea of anarchy, the great sea being government, they are trapped. -Hobbes recognized that u get recognized from the tumultuous rage of the sea, you obey the beast, so you seek protection from him from the evil intentions of others -John Locke- had an idea about state of nature- had an interpretation- he did not criticize Hobbes directly, but attacked ideas associated with Hobbes ? said human nature was mutual assistance, good -War of all against all ? was a gross exageration to Hobbes, mans desire to minimize pain and maximize happiness -Hobbes only demanded that life be protected, Locke said the scope of government is to ensure --estate(property), liberty, life, - Limited Government- there a right of rebellion for the government who fails to secure these goals
