who were these two philosophers...
john locke and jean jacque rousseau, their thinking and how they influenced the English and french revolution (simplification)
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The French Revolution was a chain reaction caused by a 'falling domino' effect starting with the discontent seen by the rising bourgeoisie and the poor. The uprising by the poor was heavily influenced by both Locke and Rousseau. Locke was the first with his rather bold ideas that essentially all individuals are born equal. We are born without innate ideas, simply the rules of society were what defined each individual i.e. the church determined what was morally acceptable and what was not. The society a person grew up in dictates who you are, according to Locke; we are all born with a "blank slate". Locke believed all were entitled to freedom and property, if this notion is violated (like it was in France) an uprising against the government was necessary and used as a reasoning tool for the French Revolution. Rousseau was heavily influenced by Locke's idea and felt social constructs (man made societies) were detrimental to human kind, he defined freedom as the ability to rule oneself, living under the rules that you have set for yourself. Both Locke and Rousseau were against the oppression of French Society and started the fire for those under its constraints to fight back and take charge of their own lives.
27 May 2015
thank you so much Rosie that helped alot!!
29 May 2015
Hi there.I am a current Philosophy teacher and happy to help with your questions in a tutoring session.Please do get in touch,Dan
29 May 2015
Hello,First of all, John Locke
12 January 2016
Hello,First of all, John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau were both philosophers from the Enlightenment (18th century). They both believed in the freedom of will, expression and thought of human beings. Their difference lied in the fact that John Locke was an empiricist philosopher, that is to say he prevailed the idea that knowledge comes from experience. However, John Locke's work highly influenced Rousseau's. Rousseau is mainly known for his book Of The Social Contract which sets the "rules of a society". If you want to roughly remember Rousseau's philosophy, keep in mind he believed society was based on a social contract. The social contract is the contract made by citizens to abandon their natural freedom for a social one, that is to say, human beings must refuse some of their interests to make a society work. I hope I made myself clear and do not hesitate if you have some more questions !Cheers
12 January 2016
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