Absolutism And Individualism Thesis Statement

No. 28

I.THESIS STATEMENT: The development of political philosophy in the western world, from the ancient period through Post modernism, as it became pillars of sources of authority in the field of political science.

II. BODY

A. Ancient Political thought

a.) Formation of state

b.) Roman law

B. The medieval political thought

a.) Clash of church and state

b.) Idea of absolutism

C. Political philosophy during the beginning of Modern Period

a.) Idea of individualism

b.) Modern theory of sovereignty

D. The modern Liberal Thought

a.) relation of economy to state

b.) modern political idea of democracy

Government is one of the pivotal institution through which the will of the state expressed and carried out. In order to

It was increasingly considered as the will of the state and human in origin (Wanlass, 1952).the Roman law established a view that emperors were said to receive their authority from the citizens and were considered to be responsible to them, as it represent the voice of romans. The emperor’s action caters the will of its citizen because it has forced of law. The justification for this is given by Ulpian in a famous passage:” the will of the emperor has the force of law, because by the passage of the lex regla the people transfer to him and vests in him all its own power and authority”. So same as the Greek’s political thought, the source of authority of the government is from the people, that represented by law. This kind of idea becomes the basis of social contract, by which the authority of the people was delegated to the public official and laws enacted serve as the agreement or contract of people and

The individualism was experienced during this period. The ultimate effect of the reformation strengthens the individual liberty and democracy. As reformers declared, crudely enough, the essential equality of man; the idea of personal worth contained the essence of the philosophy of freedom and of self- government (Wanlass, 1952). Humanism starts to emerge during this period. Monarchs during that time enjoy their absolute power, to the extent that they abuse it. So civil wars in France, Scotland and the Netherlands appear in order to topple the monarchs. Europeans fueled to fight their individual freedom because of the doctrine of Roman Catholic and john Calvin about securing the rights of man. It is interesting to note that the two religious bodies, roman catholic and Calvinistic, which cared least about individual liberty and which established the most autocratic system when they were in power , did most to secure the right of man. In their constant struggle to maintain their own independence, they placed a perpetual check upon absolutism of civil authority, and they develop the theory of resistance that led ultimately to democracy and freedom (Wanlass, 1952). The rise of Idea of Individualism fortifies the idea of public or individual as main source of authority of the government. To the extent that it has representation in the said institution, that it