Western Civilization II / Unit 6 WC2 0528 worked example, 60 to 90 seconds
Classifying a Philosophe by Position: Locke, Montesquieu, Voltaire, Rousseau, Hume, Smith
The idea
The exam names a thinker and asks his position, or quotes a position and asks whose it is. Six philosophes, six questions: where does government's authority come from, how should power be arranged, what should be mocked, what governs behavior, how should wealth grow, and what is the source of sovereignty.
In practice
Six cases. Government by consent of the governed, revocable when it breaks the law: authority, Locke. Legislative, executive and judicial powers held apart: arrangement, Montesquieu. Superstition and the Inquisition ridiculed while the masses are left their God: mockery with limits, Voltaire. Passion rules, miracles are impossible, and the common people are not to be trusted with politics: behavior, Hume. A free market guided by an invisible hand: wealth, Smith. The general will, to which citizens devote themselves: sovereignty, Rousseau.
Where people slip
Two traps. Locke and Rousseau both use the contract, but Locke's people lend power and Rousseau's people are the power. And Montesquieu is the witness's, not the anchor's, so a question on the separation of powers has no anchor locus in this course.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
Builds on
- 0508Locke: Revocable Sovereignty and the Blank Slate
- 0509Montesquieu and the Separation of Powers
- 0510Voltaire: Wit Against Injustice, and His Ambiguities
- 0513Hume: Against Miracles, and Against the Common People
- 0514Adam Smith: The Wealth of Nations and the Invisible Hand
- 0515Rousseau: The General Will and the Contrarian Enlightenment
Unlocks
- Nothing yet depends on this.
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