John Locke

 

·         His Two Treatises of Government

o        The First Treatise: refutes: Filmer’s “Divine Right Of Kings” àmen are not naturally free, so abs monarchy is the only legit form of gov

o        The Second Treatise: states Locke’s theory of government, which incorporates:

§         Natural rights therory: certain rights all humans possess

§         Social contract: people agree the state of nature is unsat, so they give up rights to a central gov while retaining others

o        Chapter 2 – The State of Nature

§         Humans lived in a state of nature, where absolute freedom and equality prevailed

§         Every individual in the state of nature has the executive power of the law of nature, so chaos and insecurity prevails

§         People agreed to quit the state of nature and create a limited government with the executive power of the law of nature

§         Premise that gov auth was conditional, and if abuse occurred, it was the people’s right to abolish it and create another

o        Chapter 3 – The State of War

§         Aggressive behavior is not consistent with state of nature

§         Always an unjust aggressor and an innocent victim

o        Chapter 4 – Slavery: slavery is justified so long as the enslaved is an unjust aggressor

o        Chapter 5 – Property: private property not by consent, but th through labor of our body

o        Function of Gov: purpose gov is to preserve liberty and prop and to persecute and violators and to always pursue the common good

 

Thomas Mun

 

  1. Thomas Mun – “England’s Treasure by Foreign Trade”

A.        “The Qualities Which Are Required in a Perfect Merchant of Foreign Trade”

1.        Equates the duties of a merchant with the duties of a patriot

2.        Love and service; great skill and confidence

3.        Know tolls, taxes, monies, etc.

4.        Speak languages

B.       “The Means to Enrich This Kingdom, and to Increase Our Treasure”

1.        gifts from other countries are uncertain – need to establish commerce

2.        basic principle:  sell more to strangers than we buy of their products

C.       “The Exportation Of Our Moneys In Trade Of Merchandize Is A Means To Increase Our Treasure”

1.        England has a limited amount of natural resources – cannot trade with wares, but use its monies to trade

 

Voltaire on Tolerance

 

Ÿ         Tolerance: the prerogative of humanity

Ÿ         We all mess up, so also we ought to forgive

Ÿ         Christianity: the gap between what should be and what is

Ÿ         Christianity should instill the greatest toleration, but is the most intolerant of all

Ÿ         Differences: Christianity wants the whole world to be Christian

Ÿ         Why Christianity should be tolerant

Ÿ         It was despised until it incorporated philosophy of Plato (a pagan)

Ÿ         Christians were once members of two religions, which demands tolerance (Jesus was a Jew); Jesus taught tolerance

Ÿ         “Every sect is a guarantee of error.” Math has no sects, no error

Ÿ         The faults / mistakes of Christianity – Jesus¹God

 

Isaac Newton

 

·         Wrote Principia –also known as Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy

·         Newton became one of most highly esteemed natural philosophers in Europe.

·         King James II had attempted to make the universities of England into Catholic institutions, which Newton was hugely opposed to

·         Newton bases his philosophy on a few simple rules:

o        Rule 1: Nature does nothing in vain; Nature is pleased with simplicity

o        Rule 2: The same effects have the same causes (ie rock evolution is same in US and in UK)

o        Rule 3: Properties of a given substance are common to that substance (determined experimentally)

·         Newton, like Aristotle, used a logic-based approach to explain things