Here is the synopsis of our sample research paper on Rousseau, Jefferson, Paine & The Enlightenment. Have the paper e-mailed to you 24/7/365.
Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A 4 page research paper that discusses these eighteenth century authors. During the eighteenth century, trends in politics, society and religion culminated in the philosophical movement known simply as the Enlightenment, which drew its name from the era’s emphasis on reason and rationality (Brians). Enlightenment philosophers subscribed to the belief that “the perfect society could be built on common sense and tolerance” (Brians). Examination of the writing of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Thomas Jefferson and Thomas Paine demonstrates the Enlightenment’s emphasis on reason and the idealistic concepts that this encompassed. Bibliography lists 4 sources.
Page Count:
4 pages (~225 words per page)
File: D0_khrjpenl.rtf
Buy This Term Paper »
Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
Enlightenment philosophers subscribed to the belief that "the perfect society could be built on common sense and tolerance" (Brians). Examination of the writing of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Thomas Jefferson and Thomas
Paine demonstrates the Enlightenments emphasis on reason and the idealistic concepts that this encompassed. Rousseau, in his Discourse on Inequality, demonstrates the religious skepticism of the eighteenth century
when he rejects religious descriptions for the origins of humanity and speculates concerning what for early peoples living in a state of nature. His speculations are logically, reasonable and based
on accurate observation of human nature, as he argues that the need to survive would be the primary motivational factor (Rousseau). He feels that as people began to live in
groups, that is, at the dawn of civilization, social hierarchies began to also develop and social inequality came into being as the rich used political leverage to secure their position
in society, essentially duping the lower classes into believing the fiction that such a societal structure was necessary for the preservation of society (Rousseau). As this suggests, Rousseau argued, based
on reason and logic, that there was no foundation in natural law for the inequalities that were evident in society. In other words, Rousseau saw no evidence in nature for
the idea that the aristocracy was inherently better than other socioeconomic classes and, therefore, entitled by their superiority to their higher station in life. Rather than believing social inequalities to
be based on real differences, Rousseau reasons that social structure derived from the process of social evolution. Similarly, in the "Declaration of Independence," drafted by Thomas Jefferson and approved
unanimously in Congress, July 4, 1776, the idea is expressed that "all men are created equal" and that they are "endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights" (Jefferson). Rather
...