Enlightenment & Human Nature

Locke argued that rights pre-exist government. We have rights to life, liberty, and property simply because we are human. Government is merely a contract we form to protect those rights better than we could alone.

Montesquieu gave the Founders the framework of separated powers drawn from his study of English governance. Both thinkers shared a key insight: human nature is flawed, and institutional design must account for that flaw.

The Social Contract

If government fails to protect natural rights — or worse, violates them — the people retain the right to alter or abolish it. This was not radical theory for the Founders. It was the logical conclusion of Enlightenment reasoning.

Ambition Must Counteract Ambition

Madison's famous phrase captures the Enlightenment insight: rather than trusting in the virtue of rulers, design institutions so that self-interest checks self-interest. The machine runs on human nature, not human virtue.