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The English Civil War
Seventeenth-century England endured a pair of tense struggles for political power that had a profound impact on the philosophers of the English Enlightenment. The first power struggle came in 1649, when the English Civil War resulted in the execution of King Charles I and the establishment of a commonwealth under Oliver Cromwell. Although this republic endured for a decade, it essentially devolved into dictatorship, and England ended up reverting to monarchy with the restoration of Charles II to the throne.
The Glorious Revolution
The reestablished monarchy had clear limits placed on its absolute power, however, as was made clear in the bloodless Glorious Revolution of 1688, in which the English people overthrew a king they deemed unacceptable and chose their next rulers. The revolution occurred because Charles II’s son, James II, was an overt Catholic, which did not sit well with the predominantly Protestant public. The English people rallied behind James II’s Protestant daughter, Mary, and her husband, William of Orange, who led a nonviolent coup that dethroned James II and sent him to France. When William and Mary ascended the throne, they effectively ended the Catholic monarchy and the idea of divine right. In the years that followed, an English Bill of Rights was drafted, boosting parliamentary power and personal liberties. In this freer environment, science, the arts, and philosophy flourished.
Thomas Hobbes
The first major figure in the English Enlightenment was the political philosopher Thomas Hobbes (1588–1679), who began his career as a tutor but branched out to philosophy around the age of 30. In 1640, fearing that some of his writings had angered England’s parliament, Hobbes fled to Paris, where he penned a substantial body of his work. He is best known for the epic Leviathan (1651), a lengthy, groundbreaking work that explores human nature.
In Leviathan, Hobbes elaborates on the nature of man and justifies absolutist rule. He argues that human nature is inherently bad and that humans will remain in a constant a state of war, vying for power and material resources, unless awed by a single great power. Thus, he reasons, a single absolute ruler is best. Because that ruler’s wealth and power is largely equivalent to the wealth and power of the nation, they will seek to lead the nation on a stable and prosperous course. Hobbes claims that this sovereign’s main duty is to provide protection to the citizens and that, if they fail at that task, allegiance may be transferred to another. In this way, Hobbes represents the pessimistic side of the Enlightenment, declaring progress to be the result of the suppression of man’s instincts rather than the granting of freedom to those instincts.
John Locke
On the opposite side of the spectrum from the pessimistic Hobbes was John Locke (1632–1704), the other major English political philosopher of the 17th century. Locke received a prestigious education throughout his youth and remained involved in academics long after graduation. It was while dabbling in medicine with a mentor that he was introduced to political thought, which then captured his interest.
Locke’s early writings focus on the religious intolerance and bickering that was troubling England at the time. Though important, these earlier works did not have nearly the influence or prominence of later works such as Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1690), in which Locke puts forth his optimistic idea that the human mind is a blank slate and that anyone can subsequently learn and improve through conscious effort. Locke followed with the work for which he is even better known, Two Treatises of Government (also 1690). This political work was massively influential, particularly the second treatise, and is still considered the foundation for modern political thought.
Perhaps not too surprisingly, Locke’s more optimistic work was more warmly received and more influential than Hobbes’s in the long run. In particular, Locke’s second treatise on government, which details Locke’s belief that humans are inherently good, but that the necessity of government requires that people compromise on some issues for the betterment of the whole, has endured. The work sets forth Locke’s ideas for an ideal representative government and makes suggestions that would eventually be elaborated into ideas such as separation of powers—the system that the founding fathers of the United States used when writing the U.S. Constitution.
Events
1649
English Civil War overthrows Charles I, installs Cromwell
1651
Hobbes publishes Leviathan
1688
Glorious Revolution unseats James II, installs William and Mary
1689
English Bill of Rights drafted
1690
Locke publishes Essay Concerning Human Understanding and Two Treatises of Government
Key People
Thomas Hobbes
Pessimistic English political philosopher; argued that people in their natural state are selfish and savage, and therefore a single absolute ruler is the best form of government
John Locke
Optimistic English political philosopher; argued for humanity’s essentially good nature; advocated representative government as an ideal form
