Week 2.2: Enlightenment Political Theory & Practice

Frederick II (1712-1786) was the king of Prussia (1740–86), a brilliant military campaigner who, in a series of diplomatic stratagems and wars against Austria and other powers, greatly enlarged Prussia’s territories and made Prussia the foremost military power in Europe. An enlightened absolute monarch, he favored French language and art and built a French Rococo palace, Sanssouci, near Berlin. Frederick the Great was deeply interested in the growth of Enlightenment philosophy, hosting the French philosopher Voltaire in his court and supporting the work of Immanuel Kant.  (adapted from the Encyclopedia Britanica)

Reading:

John Locke, The Second Treatise of Civil Government (PER 395-404)
Frederick the Great, "Benevolent Despotism" (PER 452-8)
American Declaration of Independence (PER 466-8)
The Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen (PER 466-8)
Eugène Delacroix, Liberty Leading the People (1830) 
REQUIRED: GLA ON ANNOTATION

Study Questions:
1. What is Locke's theory of property? How does this relate to the founding of political communities? What is the connection between his assumptions about property and slavery?

2. For Frederick the Great what makes a monarch benevolent? What is his defense of monarchical government?

3. How does the American Declaration of Independence and the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen extend Locke's ideas?

BONUS!
Watch the following film. Write a one paragraph summary of what you learned from the video about Frederick the Great of Prussia and you can earn up to 10 points of HW extra credit. This must be turned in with your regular homework today. Watch all five parts.