Thomas Hobbes (Maria Nunez)

Hello, my name is Thomas Hobbes and I am from Malmesbury, Wiltshire.  I am a seventeenth-century English thinker who was born on April 5, 1588 in Westport, which is now a part of Malmesbury, Wiltshire.  I died on December 4, 1679 in Derbyshire, United Kingdom.  I went to Hertford College, Oxford, from 1603 to 1608.  I believe in the importance of a powerful government.  I wrote in my work, the Leviathan, that people are naturally cruel, greedy, and selfish and would fight, rob, and oppress each other if they are not strictly controlled.  This way of life is nasty and brutish so people decided to make and follow a social contract, an agreement by which they give up their freedom for an organized society.  I believe that only a powerful government would cause such an orderly society.  An absolute monarchy can impose order and compel obedience in order to create this orderly society.

Montesquieu- Amin Rajaee

Hello, I am Montesquieu. I was born with the name Charles-Louis de Secondat, Baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu on January 18, 1969. I am a French political thinker who lived during the Age of Enlightenment. My ideas for a government were known to be very unique and different as I strongly believed in the separation of powers. This means the state is split into branches that were all independent and each responsible for their actions in government. Today, we have the legislative, executive, and judicial branches, which are perfect examples of my idea. All of these branches were responsible for checks and balances, regulating the decisions of the other branches. This shows how the power was divided between the three branches. It kept one branch from becoming more powerful than the others. Equality was one of the main goals in this. Overall, this idea seems to be a smartly carved out system that is working well in the United States of America to this day.

Montesquieu (Amin Rajaee)

I am Rousseau (T. Burnett-Testa) and I am a Genevan philosopher, writer and composer. I was born on June 28th, 1712 in Geneva, Switzerland.  I believe that liberty is at the roots of humanity and therefore all humans should have the right to liberty. Because we are all free and equal by nature, we should all be free and equal by law. Humans could act as animals, but we are self-sufficient. I believe that in nature, mankind is not completely free even though we are endowed with natural freedom. We must submit ourselves to the laws and norms to be free. I believe that each individual has the right to political participation on an equal floor with all other citizens. Even though we could act as an awful and selfish species as mankind, humanity is generally good and equal as individuals with one another so we do deserve certain equal rights that we were born with.

Mary Wollstonecraft

Hello, my name is Mary Wollstonecraft (G. Mahoney). I was born on April 27, 1759, in Spitalfields, England, and died on September 10, 1797, in London. I was 38 years old. I am a very strong believer of women's rights. I believe that girls should be allowed to have an education along with boys. Women seem to be inferior to men, but this is not true. If girls were allowed the same education as young boys, men and women would in fact be equal. I argued for this in my most famous published work, The Vindication of the Rights of Women. If you too believe that men and women are equal, then we will get along very well.

John Locke

John Locke (A.Buckley)

Since the day I was born, August 29, 1632 in Wrington England, my life was never simple. My father was a lawyer, but fought in the early parts of the Civil War here in Britain. My parents were Puritans of modest means, and they educated me well. I was enrolled in Christ Church Oxford, and there I was awarded my bachelors and masters degrees as well as recieved my degree in medicine. I never became interested in politics until my friend Lord Shaftesbury became Lord Chancellor in 1672. My views of politics take after him I suppose. Shortly after he became the Chancellor, I wrote Two Treatises of Government which expressed my feelings about natural rights and the government, which went against most of the others beliefs. I firmly believe that humans are born with natural rights, the rights to life liberty and property, and it is the governments job to protect those rights and nothing else. I continued to express my rights through some writings such as Essay Concerning Human Understanding, Two Treaties of Civil Government, and a Letter Concerning Toleration. I will fight for my beliefs because I have faith in the their meaning, and until the day I die I will continue to preach my ideas.

Voltaire

Voltaire (E. Abbott)

Some may call me Francois-Marie Arouet, but most know me as Voltaire. I started off being born into a family of five, me being the youngest. I was brought into this world in 1694 and only lasted 83 years. I grew up in Paris, France my whole like and even died there. I loved it. I spent my college years at College Lous-le-Grand and really found myself there. I didn't always have it easy though, in 1725 I was arrested in Britain for an insult exchange with a French nobleman and spent three years in the slammer. I had a lot of time to think about the country's freedom of speech and their ways of going about things like that. After I got out of the slammer I went back to my hometown in Paris and found myself a wife. Emilie du Chatelet. That only lasted for about 15 years but that's not why most people know me.  People know me from the French Enlightenment though, being a philosopher and defending what I believe in. Some even consider me one of the best minds of the French Enlightenment. I defended religious freedom, that was a big pet peeve of mine, how people couldn't even believe in their own gods freely. I also defended free trade as well as civil liberties, and social reform. These are just a few of the things I may be considered significant for. At least nowadays.

Montesquie (N. DiBiasio)

Montesquieu (N. DiBiasio)
     Hello, people call me Montesquieu but when I was born in January of 1689 my full name was Charles-Louis de Secondat, Baron de La Brede et de Montesquieu. I am a french social and political thinker who grew up in the Age of Enlightenment. As I was growing up during the major government change between England which had joined forces to create the Kingdom of Great Britain, I was very familiar with the basis of governments. Some people even say that these government changes have had a major influence on my life. After going to college, my father passed in 1713, it was a very dark year for me leaving me with my uncle. My uncle Baron de Montesquieu died three years later leaving me with his office as president of the Bordeaux Parliament. Because of this, I grew interest in studying laws of governments in England. Then in 1721 after publishing my creation of The Persian Letters, I grew fame. But not only did the Persian Letters make me famous but the creation of The Spirit of Laws made me famous. In 1748 after creating The Spirit of Laws, my fame grew entirely, but in the process I grew enemies such as some of France and the Catholic church, which neglected the laws. My beliefs included a government called administrative which consisted of three main types called executive, legislative, and judicial. My beliefs ended up changing the way of society in many countries, especially The United States of America which attached to my beliefs and used them. Overall my life was filled with many opportunities and I choose to make the governments of other countries a better place by believing in 3 divided groups of government which now many countries took into effect, especially the United States.

We WILL Start the Fire

Voltaire (B. Caskey)

Can I ask you, how can one person know how to lead a country when he or she does not even know what those under him or her want, or even need? How can that one person tell if he or she is doing something wrong? And how, if in extreme cases, can the public let the leader know it is time to release his or her power? Our leaders, present and future, need to let us, the people, speak our minds. Those few and powerful leaders need to release their grasp enough on their own people to allow opinions to escape. Opinions can lead to sides, sides can argue, and arguing can produce and IDEA. One idea, this is all that is needed to start something. One spark in a dry field is all that is needed to start a forest fire, and let me tell you, we are sitting in a dry field, waiting for a spark to erupt. We are waiting for that one idea to burn all of this vegetation down, all of these obstacles blocking our way to freedom. I believe in freedom of expression, nothing else. I don't care if I disagree with you, but if you cannot get your opinion out, then no argument can ensue, and no ideas can be created. If you are restrained, if you are stopped from saying what you think is right, then we will be tripping over branches for the rest of our life.

-Voltaire

All Men Deserve Natural Rights

John Locke (E. Kalander)

Hello, my name is John Locke. I was born on August 29^th of the year 1632 in Somerset England. Because of my fathers close connection to the English government, I was able to enroll at Westminster School in London, and then later received education at Christ Church in Oxford. Due to my upbringing and my studies of medicine and logic, I truly believe at all men are born good and deserve natural rights, those including the right to life, the right to liberty, and the right to property. The government of any country has an obligation to its people to protect these natural rights and should not have complete control. In fact, if the government fails in protecting its citizens, said citizens should have the right to overthrow it. With all this said, I am not against the government, though I believe we should learn to accept it and use it to our advantage.

Balanced Power within Government

Montesquieu (J. Bernard-Sasges)

Bonjour. Je m'appelle is Charles-Louis de Secondat, Baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu, or Montesquieu for short. I am an 18th century philosopher and am recognized for my work in philosophy during the enlightenment period en France. I am known for my views towards government being, comment dites-vous, unique. I believe in a government split into equally powerful branches, allowing for equal power to all. These could be branches like an executive branch, a legislative branch, and a judicial branch for example. These separate braches serve as checks and balances and can each check and/or balance the decisions of the others. This is crucial in a good government, as it doesn't allow for any one branch in government to gain too much power. Maybe one day this policy will be adapted by a government somewhere. All I know is that when it is, that government will be the most equal the world has ever known. C'est tout pour ce moment, à la prochaine!

T. Hobbes (Lauren Chapski)

T. Hobbes (Lauren Chapski)
Deceit, betrayal, and selfishness. These are all qualities that humans posses, whether knowing it or not. We can not always help who we are, but we can certainly do things to control it. Having an absolute monarchy, and strong central government will keep us civil, under control, and will help maintain peace throughout our world. I wrote a book about all of my ideas and philosophy's, its called Leviathan. In my book I display my thoughts as well as my believes, including a social contract. Our society will thrive if we base our authority in the state instead of the individuals. When it comes down to it, the human race is naturally cruel and without a strong central government we will destroy ourselves before anyone or anything else even gets a chance.

Jean Jaques Rousseau

Rousseau (Spencer)
Greetings all, My name is Jean Jacques Rousseau. I am from the time known as the enlightenment, I am a strong believer in the fact that all humans are born honest. Tabula Rasa actually, which means innocent, has a clean slate. I do not believe that humans are naturally bad, or born bad it society that corrupts. I completely agree with what is call the social contract; government should have limited control. The good of the community should individual interests. I am the complete and utter opposite of the wrong Thomas Hobbes. He believes that all humans are born cruel, but how can that be true, how can an unborn child be evil. Its not, WE ARE GOOD! Well, until society corrupts us and sends us off doing things we would dare dream of is society wasn't such a mess. It's quite unfortunate really...
Until next time
Rousseau

Society Corrupts Humans Born Good

Jean-Jacques Rousseau (K. Lavan) My name is Jean-Jacques Rousseau and I was born in Geneva, a city-state of the Swiss Confederacy. I was born on June 28, 1712.  My father is Isaac Rousseau, a watchmaker, and Suzanne Bernard. Only nine days after my birth, my mother died and my father disowned my brother and me. At the age of thirteen, I began an apprenticeship as an engraver and three years later, I moved out of Geneva to Annecy. I loved to write and in 1742 I moved to Paris and met Denis Diderot and was a contributor to a radical magazine, the Encyclopedia. I created a system of number notation and although my idea was rejected, I still continued to write. For the next two years I worked at the French embassy in Venice where I wrote numerous operas and began to discover my love for philosophy. In 1750, I wrote my first major philosophical work and won a prize. Over the next ten years, I wrote many new philosophical works and defend religion in my work. I converted to a Roman Catholic and think that is necessary. One of my most famous is "The Social Contract." One of my most famous quotes from the work is "Man is born free; and everywhere he is in claims." In my book, I discuss how the government should have limited power and the good of the community is more important than individuals interests. I believe that all men are born with tabula rasa, or with a clean slate. I strongly believe that we are all born good but our society degrades us. 

Montesquieu (I. Iannotti)

My name is Charles de Secondat Baron de la Brède et de Montesquieu and I was born in Bordeaux, France, in 1689 to a fairly wealthy family. After I went to college to study science and history I became a lawyer in the local government. Around this time my father died in 1713 and I was placed under the care of my uncle, Baron de Montesquieu. Three years later in 1716, my uncle died and graciously left me his fortune, his office as president of the Bordeaux Parliament, and his title of Baron de Montesquieu. I then became a member of the Bordeaux and French Academies of Science and studied the laws and customs and governments of the countries of Europe. I first made a name for myself and gained fame in 1721 by writing the Persian Letters, which criticized the lifestyle and liberties of the wealthy French as well as the church. However, my book On the Spirit of Laws, published in 1748, was my most famous work. In the work I outlined how I thought the government would best work and benefit the people. I mainly advanced the idea of separation of powers. The present day U.S. actually ended up using my ideas of a legislative, judicial, and executive branch to run their own government. I also established the idea of a way to keep all powers equal, this is now called checks and balances. All of my works were meant to better the French government during my time period of exactly 1689 to 1755 and it is a great accomplishment that my ideas are being successfully used today. 

Humans Are Not Born Corrupt

Jean- Jacques Rousseau (K. Gammino) Bonjour tout le monde! (Hello everyone!). My name is Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Many people know me for certain opinions I have. I was born on June 28th, 1712 in  the Republic of Geneva. I was born into a middle class family. My parents were often allowed to speak their minds, they could do this through their voting rights. As I grew into a young gentleman, my father disowned me for reasons I'd rather not talk about. I went to Italy and wandered around as a servant, secretary, and a tutor. I have been all around the world in my life. To Italy, then Paris, Geneva, Britain, and then France. Later on in life, I became a well known philosopher and converted into a Roman Catholic. My philosophies often entail opinions on religion. I believe that religion is in fact a necessity. People ( Hobbes), often say that humans are naturally born evil. How is that possible? God created us all, God is good and kind-hearted, therefore, aren't we born good? We are created good. It is what surrounds us that hurts us and our innocence.

Thomas Hobbes (J. Horgan)

I was born in April 5, 1588 in Wiltshire, England and I grew up in the Modern Philosophy Era. I studied many at many places. Such places include; Westport Church, Malmesbury school, private school, and then I graduated from the University of Oxford. The principal there had a great influence on me. Later on, I created the Social Contract. This is an agreement in which people trade in their freedom for an ordered society. I believe these societies should be ruled by and upper hand. Absolute Monarchy is much better with controlling subjects of the area. With people being born cruel and all, a solid leader and a strong government keeps society under control. This is easily stated in my book, The Leviathan. You guys should check it out. In this book I argue how people would be poor and awful if left to be on their own because of how they were born cruel, greedy, and selfish. Can't wait to tell more!

~Thomas Hobbes (J. Horgan)

Humans Are Born Cruel And Greedy

Thomas Hobbes (Sarah Basler)
My name is Thomas Hobbes. I was born on April 5, 1588 in Westport England. Sadly, when I was very young, my father left my family, leaving my 3 brothers and I in the hands of his brother. I was very grateful for my uncle, as he provided me with my education which paved the way for my future. At the age of 14, I attended Magdalen Hall in Oxford.  In 1608, I privately tutored William Cavendish, the oldest son of Lord Cavendish.  Through my work with the Cavendish family, I constantly heard discussion about the King, Parliament, and other wealthy landowners. In the late 1630's, I became involved with disputes between the King and Parliament. Shortly after, I left England, and became intrigued as to why people allowed themselves to be governed, and what the best form of government would be for England. In 1841, I wrote a book called Leviathan. In this work, I argued that people were naturally cruel and greedy and that absolute monarchy would be the best form of government. I believe that humans are selfish and will do anything to make life better for themselves or to better their position in society. I believe that governments were created to protect people from their own evil. I firmly stand by the belief that citizens would be governed  best if under the control of a king, because a country needs a ruler of authority, not someone who only cares for themself. Humans are born evil, and the only way to control that is to put a ruler in authority.

All Men are Inherently Good

J. Locke (M. Rodrigue)

Hello everyone, I am John Locke. Let me tell you a little bit about myself. I was born in 1632 in a small village known as Wrington in North Somerset, England to two lovely Puritan parents. From Westminster school in London, I proceeded to Christ Church in Oxford. I grew up in a time of major struggles in power between Parliament and the Monarchy, even to the point of civil wars (in the 1640s). Through these difficult times, I have come to realize a few things. First, contrary to other beliefs, I believe that all men are inherently good and we are all born with natural rights; such as life, liberty, and property. Furthermore, the government has an obligation to protect these rights, and if it should fail, we as the people have every privilege in the world to change it. Government should have limited power over us. It is us, the people, who should agree to how our own lives are to be run.

Mary Wollstonecraft (K. Carosotto)

Women are not worthless ornaments of the household. We are intelligent human beings who have our own perception of this world and deserve to express it. Hello, I am Mary Wollstonecraft. I was born April 27, 1759 in Spitalfields, London. I did not live a very joyful childhood since I was abused by my father, lost members of my family, and many friends to the evils of death. These hardships have only made me stronger as a person, and have gave me an incentive to achieve my goals. In 1792 I wrote the book A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, which addresses the problem of gentleman ruling over society. Gentleman are the ones who go to work everyday, the ones who speak for the family, and most disappointing, the ones who receive an education. Women should be allowed a proper education, along side men, to achieve their own goals as I have mine. 

Mary Wollstonecraft (Milan Toljan)

I was born on April 27, 1759 in Spitalfields, London. I was born into the era of enlightenment linkers who were starting to mold the face of societies around the world. From a young age I was a defiant person. I took on a maternal role in my household, to protect my sisters and mother from my drunken father. Later on I began to envision a female utopia, and set out to create one. I firmly believe in equal feminine rights that should be incorporated into our society. I died a week after the birth of my second daughter on September 10 1797, from septicemia.

                      Mary Wollstonecraft (Milan Toljan)

Equal Education for All Genders

Equal Education
Mary Wollstonecraft (A. Gannon)
I was born on the date April 27, 1759, yet not much longer after that I knew I was going to change the world somehow; I knew that I would fight until I, as well as all women, received equal rights. Most know me from my book A Vindication of the Rights of Women, but if only everyone could read the passion in my heart rather than my ideas on paper. A human shall not be denied the right to receive an equal education by virtue of their gender. I, as should all, fervently know that not only is it immoral, but a violation of human rights to not provide a human being an adequate education solely to due that human's sex. A gender does not entitle one to superiority, thus to be denied an education is a violation of women's rights and demonstrates poor values and ethics. There is something obtained by all humans in which everyone has the ability to use; a voice. Therefore, a women's voice should not be ignored, and we shall receive equal education for both genders.