Rousseau and Montesquieu: The Impact of Their Ideas on Government

Keynote lecture: "Rousseau and Montesquieu: their influence on the government" - Speech:

Baron Montesquieu is a French nobleman and his main contribution to the political thinking of the Enlightenment comes from his 1748 paper "Legal Spirit". A few years ago when writing a paper Montesquieu visited several European countries and observed the activities of each central government carefully. In the "legal spirit" he conducted a comparative study of the types of government and then proposed his own government theory.

Montesquieu has confirmed three types of government power: the implementation of legislation, "to rely on domestic law", and "to rely on civil law" (ie justice). Montesquieu believes that if a person or group of people has two or all of these powers, it will lead to the implementation of the "tyrant way" of the "tyranny law". His idea provided the foundation for this doctrine called "power distribution". And it had a major influence on enactors of the Constitution of the United States and therefore influenced the formation of the US government. Montesquieu does not think democracy is the best form of the government. Instead, he supports the constitutional monarchy based on the British model. He praised the British government extremelyly because Congress, the King, and the court felt that everyone could work separately and effectively as everyone could restrict the power of the other party. The views of different government ministries each prevented the others from getting too much power and led to a "check and balance" theory that later influenced enactors of the Constitution of the United States.

Rousseau's most famous is his "social contract" outlined in his book "Social Contract". Rock believes that society was born through mutual consent of all members. Rousseau further advanced, insisted that not only individuals who formed society agreed, but also mutual "social contract" was signed. Social contract balances obligation and profit. Participants gain mutual protection and defense and help them overcome obstacles that can not be conquered by themselves. In return, the social contract requires the members of the society to make their "freedom of nature" (the freedom which individuals enjoy in their natural state) be subject to "the highest direction of general will" There.

Locke, Montesquieu, and Rousseau tend to build more democratic government systems. They believe that the government has responsibility to protect the indivisible rights of life, freedom, and property. Their views on social contracts are inherently reciprocal, meaning that when citizens give sovereignty to the government, the government should ensure that these liberties are protected. Rock was the first person to propose these force majeure. Montesquieu also opposed the view of absolute monarchy and thought that the main purpose of the government was to protect the law and to protect individual political freedom and property. Montesquieu supports the system of elected representatives. Montesquieu resembles John Locke in his opinion of the sovereignty of the government and the people.

What are the similarities and differences between Montesquieu, Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau's philosophy, perspectives, and government views?

Montesquieu is sometimes called the father of contemporary anthropology, as he believes that general rules governing society are expressed in the form of specific rules appropriate to a particular country. His view on the British government had a direct impact on the US Constitution. Rousseau's thought had a great influence on the French Revolution and his view on people's sovereignty not only influenced the US government but also had a great impact on the world of the 20th century from socialism to Nazism.

Montesquieu and Rousseau were two philosophers who had a great influence on Europe and the world during enlightenment. They came from various backgrounds, but one was a nobleman and the other was a civilian, but I was not satisfied with the rule of the French king. Typical philosophers trying to apply science to social reform treat the government as conditional and apply the "natural state" and "social" criteria to determine the type of government to be established To do. Both are trying to find scientific rules governing the administration of the government