17th and 18th Century Political Philosophy: Absolutism and Constitutionalism

Vocabulary flashcards covering 17th- and 18th-century European political philosophies, comparing Divine Right Absolutism, Secular Absolutism, and Constitutionalism through the writings of James I, Thomas Hobbes, and John Locke.

Divine Right Absolutism

A political system featuring a hereditary monarch believed to be appointed by God and answerable only to Him, historically found in France, Russia, Prussia, and Austria.

Constitutionalism

A form of governance where governmental power is limited by law and balanced with the rights of the people, exemplified by the Dutch Republic.

Constitutional Monarchy

A system featuring a hereditary ruler who governs with the consent of an assembly or parliament and is answerable to human laws and a constitution, as established in Britain.

Absolute Monarchy (Secular)

A form of rule where a hereditary monarch holds complete power without consulting others and is not answerable to laws, deriving authority from the people through a social contract rather than God.

Parens Patriae

A Latin term cited by James I meaning the 'politic father of his people,' used to compare a king's paternal authority to that of a father over his family.

Three Similitudes of Monarchy

The three comparisons James I used in 1610 to illustrate royal power: one from the Word of God (kings as gods), one from policy (kings as fathers of families), and one from philosophy (kings as the head of the microcosm of the body of man).

James I

King of England and Scotland who delivered a speech to Parliament arguing that monarchy is the supremest thing on earth and that kings possess divine-like power, answerable to God alone.

Chess Analogy of James I

A metaphor used by James I describing a monarch's absolute power to treat subjects like pieces in chess, using a pawn to take a bishop or a knight, and raising or lowering them at will.

Thomas Hobbes

An English political theorist (1588–1679) who wrote Leviathan (1651) following the English Civil War to argue for an absolute sovereign capable of maintaining peace and security.

State of War (Hobbes)

The natural condition of human life without a common power to keep all in awe, described by Thomas Hobbes as a condition 'of every man against every man.'

Commonwealth (Hobbes)

The multitude of people united into one person or assembly when every individual confers their power and strength upon a sovereign through a mutual covenant.

"Mortal God"

Thomas Hobbes's title for the great Leviathan or commonwealth, to which people owe their peace and defense under the immortal God due to authority conferred by the populace.

Hobbesian Covenant

The social contract wherein each individual gives up their natural right of self-governance to one man or assembly on the condition that all other individuals do the same.

John Locke

An English philosopher and political theorist of the late 1600s who wrote the Second Treatise of Civil Government (1690) in the wake of the Glorious Revolution.

Property (Locke)

The fundamental natural rights that every individual has a title to preserve under the law of nature, specifically defined by John Locke as life, liberty, and estate.

Political Society (Locke)

A community established when individuals surrender their natural executive powers to the community, establishing settled standing rules and an indifferent umpire to resolve disputes.

Locke's Inconsistency Argument

John Locke's position that absolute monarchy is incompatible with political society because the monarch concentrates all legislative and executive power in himself, leaving subjects with no indifferent judge for redress.

Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet

A political theorist paired with James I who defended Divine Right Absolutism, maintaining that monarchs are appointed by God and answerable to Him alone.

Glorious Revolution

The late-17th-century English political event that influenced John Locke's philosophy by demonstrating that Parliament could judge, remove, and replace a monarch.

English Civil War

The period of domestic conflict in England that directly influenced Thomas Hobbes's pessimistic view of human nature and led him to write Leviathan (1651).