Influential of the enlightenment thinkers. His name was John locke, He is one of the great influential minds of the enlightenment period of western civilization. He was also known as the father of liberalism. In adition to being the father of liberalism he was also a co-founder of the social contract theory. The English philosopher and political theorist John Locke born in 1632 and died in 1704 laid much of the groundwork for the Enlightenment and made central contributions to the development of liberalism. Trained in medicine, he was a key advocate of the empirical approaches …show more content…
Today, liberal parties continue to wield power and influence throughout the world. John Locke Was also the one whose work helped inspire the shapers of the Declaration of Independence. He said “everyone has a God given right to life, liberty, property, and pursuit of Happiness”. He also helped inspire the Second Amendment. He said that citizens have a right to form a militia and overthrow a government if necessary, when it becomes too oppressive The social contract or political contract is a theory or model, originating during the Age of
Enlightenment that typically addresses the questions of the origin of society and the legitimacy of the authority of the state over the individual Locke’s arguments for the social contract. Social contract arguments typically posit that individuals have consented, either explicitly or tacitly, to surrender some of their freedoms and submit to the authority of the ruler or magistrate (or to the decision of a majority), in exchange for protection of their remaining rights. The question of the relation between natural and legal rights, therefore, is often an aspect of social contract