resident of Toledo, Ohio, Griffith “Griff” Robert Littlehale has created visual art, such as posters, holiday cards, and illustrations. Griffith Littlehale is also familiar with classical philosophers, such as the seminal political thinker John Locke (1632-1704). Locke’s ideas on governing a well-ordered society provided the intellectual platform for the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States.
Born in England, Locke saw firsthand the bloody struggles between the King and Parliament. He reacted against the prevailing theory that monarchs ruled by divine right, being descendants of Adam, the first ruler of humanity. As he became a scholar at Oxford University, Locke proposed the concept of the social contract, in which all persons had natural rights of life, liberty, property.
Under the social contract, governments had the right to penalize individuals for misdeeds against society, rather than allowing the victim to administer punishment. This perspective coincided with Locke’s view that human beings could use reason to live according to the laws of a creator God.
To accomplish this ideal state, Locke believed in majority rule, as long as it did not contradict natural rights. He proposed a governmental system of shared power between executive, legislative, and judicial branches. If a nation’s executive ignored the people’s rights, they could remove him from office. Therefore, a revolution was permitted.
America’s revolutionary generation used these principles to justify pulling out of the English colonial system. Locke’s philosophy is also reflected in the French Declaration of the Universal Rights of Man and of the Citizen.
Born in England, Locke saw firsthand the bloody struggles between the King and Parliament. He reacted against the prevailing theory that monarchs ruled by divine right, being descendants of Adam, the first ruler of humanity. As he became a scholar at Oxford University, Locke proposed the concept of the social contract, in which all persons had natural rights of life, liberty, property.
Under the social contract, governments had the right to penalize individuals for misdeeds against society, rather than allowing the victim to administer punishment. This perspective coincided with Locke’s view that human beings could use reason to live according to the laws of a creator God.
To accomplish this ideal state, Locke believed in majority rule, as long as it did not contradict natural rights. He proposed a governmental system of shared power between executive, legislative, and judicial branches. If a nation’s executive ignored the people’s rights, they could remove him from office. Therefore, a revolution was permitted.
America’s revolutionary generation used these principles to justify pulling out of the English colonial system. Locke’s philosophy is also reflected in the French Declaration of the Universal Rights of Man and of the Citizen.
