Philosophical And Historical Foundations Of American Politics :: essays research papers

The Founding Fathers views on government were influenced by both the classical republican and the lifelike rights philosophers. The two groups of philosophers held very unalike views on how a government should run. The classical republicans believed that the individual should sacrifice his or her person-to-person freedoms in order to gain the greater good. The natural rights philosophers, on the different hand, held that a persons individual freedoms out to be preserved at all costs. The two greatest examples of historical precedent in republican government were the ancient Greek and Roman civilizations, which both gave the people a great deal of power in the government by allowing them a voice. The natural rights philosophers favored the Greeks, while most classical republicans admired the Romans.The theory of classical republicanism is that the best society is one that promotes the common good instead of individual interests. hotshot of the ways that this is done is by limiti ng individual rights. This idea began in Rome in 509 after King Servius successor Tarquin the Proud behaved in such(prenominal) a tyrannical way that the outraged aristocracy ousted him. In response to the unspeakable treatment, the Romans changed the governments job. The elite proclaimed themselves the protectors of Rome against tyranny. This mind coiffure became all-important(a) to the ideology through which they justified their political supremacy. From this point on, there would be intense suspicion of any individual who tried to turn popular patronage into personal power.Numerous problems can arise in a society which emphasizes both individual rights and the common good because the two goals are often counterpoint in nature. Everyone desires individual rights, but to protect the common good a social contract must be in effect. This means that some personal rights must be sacrificed for the good of the community. The natural rights philosophy considered the rights of the indi vidual to be of primary importance, but classical republicans held that the communitys interests were more important. Classical republicans required that people care for each other in small communities, and shared similarities in finances and religion. This required an official religion and a single set of family standards had to be followed. Thus it was obvious that this would not work in America, since so many people had come here to escape their official religions and to seek stinting opportunity.The classical republicans stressed the need for moral education and homogeneity in order to protect the interests of society.