The founders of the Declaration of Independence sought to create a government that would be formed from the ideas and concepts that they had encountered through their various readings and studies. John Locke and Thomas Hobbes are by far the most influential thinkers of the Constitution and continue to affect American thought even today. Many of John Locke’s ideas directly correlate with those included in the Declaration of Independence yet they are reworded to suit the needs of the new government. Although Locke and Hobbes disagreed about the nature of people, both of them made a point of stating that people had inalienable rights. Locke’s whole basis of philosophy was based on the belief that every human had natural rights, rights that existed
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government. Hobbes ideas impact our daily lives mainly his belief that states that the people should give up some of their rights to a more absolute power to protect them and regulate the society around them. This idea is known as a social compact or contract that states that, in their natural state, Hobbes believed that people would fight only for their self-interest and attack those who were in pursuit of their interests. The only way to stop people from engaging in this natural act was to create a government that would enforce the law and protect people from their state of nature. Hobbes negative view towards the nature of humans parallels that of the United States Constitution and Declaration of Independence. Hobbes arrived at the idea that all people were created equal because he felt that in a natural world without government that everyone was created equal. He also believed that this was part of the problem – the reason that people chose to rebel and combat each other to fulfill their interests because that meant that no person could rise above …show more content…
“In Niccolo 's most well-known book, The Prince, a strong emphasis is placed on the need for The Prince (or the governing body) to abandon principles and act immorally on occasion in order to achieve a particular objective (or to maintain/expand power).” Machiavelli’s impact on the U.S. especially has been more of a tougher stance. When someone thinks of Machiavelli they think of his key phrase, which is “the ends justify the means”. The meaning of this phrase is if a goal is morally important enough, you may pursue this method of achieving this goal no matter how immorally or unlawfully it may be. This phrase has had a tremendous impact on the United States especially after 9/11 and other terrorist/ domestic attacks on the U.S. The United States is obligated to keep its citizens safe, but what happens when people take the fight inside the United States? On September 11, 2001, the World Trade center was attacked using hijacked airplanes. After the attack the U.S. responded by substantially increasing the amount of security at airports now to a point where it has become a point of a violation of the Fourth amendment. The government passed the Patriot Act, which allows them to spy on the citizens of the U.S. to effectively protect citizens from terrorism. It gets to a point in a Machiavellian society where the line between what is lawful and unlawful is
government. Hobbes ideas impact our daily lives mainly his belief that states that the people should give up some of their rights to a more absolute power to protect them and regulate the society around them. This idea is known as a social compact or contract that states that, in their natural state, Hobbes believed that people would fight only for their self-interest and attack those who were in pursuit of their interests. The only way to stop people from engaging in this natural act was to create a government that would enforce the law and protect people from their state of nature. Hobbes negative view towards the nature of humans parallels that of the United States Constitution and Declaration of Independence. Hobbes arrived at the idea that all people were created equal because he felt that in a natural world without government that everyone was created equal. He also believed that this was part of the problem – the reason that people chose to rebel and combat each other to fulfill their interests because that meant that no person could rise above …show more content…
“In Niccolo 's most well-known book, The Prince, a strong emphasis is placed on the need for The Prince (or the governing body) to abandon principles and act immorally on occasion in order to achieve a particular objective (or to maintain/expand power).” Machiavelli’s impact on the U.S. especially has been more of a tougher stance. When someone thinks of Machiavelli they think of his key phrase, which is “the ends justify the means”. The meaning of this phrase is if a goal is morally important enough, you may pursue this method of achieving this goal no matter how immorally or unlawfully it may be. This phrase has had a tremendous impact on the United States especially after 9/11 and other terrorist/ domestic attacks on the U.S. The United States is obligated to keep its citizens safe, but what happens when people take the fight inside the United States? On September 11, 2001, the World Trade center was attacked using hijacked airplanes. After the attack the U.S. responded by substantially increasing the amount of security at airports now to a point where it has become a point of a violation of the Fourth amendment. The government passed the Patriot Act, which allows them to spy on the citizens of the U.S. to effectively protect citizens from terrorism. It gets to a point in a Machiavellian society where the line between what is lawful and unlawful is