Locke, Hume, and Kant

Locke:

John Locke is known as one of the most influential philosophers in American history with his works; Second Treatise of Civil Government and The Social Contract. He attended the Oxford where he studied medicine, eventually writing philosophy about politics, epistemology, and education.He was among the first to advocate the view that people have natural rights simply because they are human beings, and that these natural rights should be protected by the government. Locke’s important piece of political philosophy is his Second Treatise of Civil Government. But in his first treatise, Locke explicitly refuted the idea that kings rule according to divine right (from God), and argued that human beings have natural rights upon which the government may not infringe.


Hume:

Hume was one of the greatest and the most enthusiastic advocate of John Locke. This Scottish philosopher was the greatest supporter of Locke’s empiricist ideals; in fact, most of his theories are extreme analyses of Locke’s theories on the subject. 

Though Hume was an avid believer of the rationalist school of thought, he constantly challenged various schools of thought using his empiricist theories. Another revolutionary idea that Hume had regarding the world was the concept that all objects have certain properties and without such properties there is nothingness. This was a very controversial concept in those times because it implied that Hume was an atheist. He believed that the definition of God or a superior being was far from objective and that since the “properties” were changing constantly from person to person he realised that God must be nonexistent. Though this view was not readily accepted in his time , Hume played an important role in establishing a different outlook on religion.
Hume was a supporter of the enlightenment. He agreed completely with many ideas of the enlightenment but was always against one aspect of scientific reasoning. He called this theory, the induction fallacy or more commonly known as the is-ought controversy i.e. - any theory proposed on the grounds that it was experienced multiple times by the senses is invalid because one cannot really know the truth until one experiences it themselves. An example that illustrates Hume’s thought process is as follows - One cannot conclude that the sun rises in the east just by using previous experience as proof. This is because one does not really know if the sun will rise in the east until he experiences it which will then just become another observation not supporting the theory in anyway.

Kant

Immanuel Kant was a gifted philosopher, creating ideologies revolving around our highest moral good to what freedom is to his perspective. Kant helped shaped thousands of minds in many societal concepts. 

Kant's definition of freedom revolves around his "comparative concept of freedom" where he states "I am free whenever the cause of my action is within me. So I am unfree only when something external to me pushes or moves me, but I am free whenever the proximate cause of my body's movement is internal to me as an “acting being” (5:96). By this excerpt, he means that if your own actions are controlled by external means, than you do not have freedom. Only when your actions are cause by your internal self as an "acting being," then you may be free. 

Kant's definition on ethics revolves around the "categorical imperative" which essentially states that " do not do to others unless you want them to do the same to you." For example, if one husband were to have an affair, then he is also saying that it is okay for his wife to do the same. Other philosophies on Kantian ethics is that Kant says that to determine the amount of moral worth an action has is to look at the intent behind the action, not what is the action. He also argues that there is a moral high ground known as his "highest good" and that humanity continually strives for it.