Introduction

Summary

Is it possible to develop a universalistic account of the right political order? Many Enlightenment-era philosophers thought so. Consider the cases of John Locke and Jeremy Bentham. Locke, in his Second Treatise, develops a universal theory of political legitimacy. He asserts that men have natural rights, principally the right to life, liberty, and property. A government is legitimate, Locke claims, only insofar as it protects these natural rights. If a government does not protect these rights sufficiently, then the inhabitants of the country have a right, perhaps a duty, to dissolve the government. Sometimes, this dissolution must occur through force, as in a violent revolution. Locke's standards do not change over time and place— they are universal. Bentham's principle of utility is grounded in a universal imperative: to maximize the greatest good for the greatest number of people. This principle must guide all of our actions. Not following the principle is immoral and produces harmful consequences. Consider also G. W. F. Hegel, who follows in the Enlightenment tradition in important ways. Hegel, in his Lectures on the Philosophy of World History, identifies an endpoint toward which History, guided by reason and Geist, points. Hegel found this endpoint in the Prussia of his day. Many states will not reach this endpoint, and those that do will take particular paths to get there; nonetheless, it remains the universally best political order. We take these thinkers as emblematic of the universalistic thinking present in crucial parts of the Enlightenment including, on some readings, the American founding.

The framers of the US Constitution widely are believed to have worked within this Enlightenment-era ideal, too. The Declaration of Independence proclaims that it is a “self-evident” truth that “all men”—not just Americans— are “created equal.” Everyone is endowed “with certain unalienable Rights,” principally “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.” Men institute governments to protect these rights. Whenever a government fails to do so, it becomes illegitimate and the people have the right “to alter or to abolish it.” In order to solidify these universal principles, the story goes, the founders crafted the US Constitution. Indeed, the writing and ratification of the US Constitution have been described as a “great rehearsal” toward what later thinkers would hail as the “end of history.”