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Cicero, Sidney, and Locke

Thomas Jefferson famously listed Cicero, John Locke, and Algernon Sidney (along with Aristotle) as the core intellectual sources for the principles of the American Declaration of Independence. All the Founding Fathers credit these thinkers with shaping the ideas behind the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. Yet little is known about them among the American public. Here are some basics about them.

Cicero

Marcus Tullius Cicero (106–43 BCE) was a Roman statesman, orator, and philosopher who shaped Western thought by translating, organizing, and transmitting Greek philosophical traditions into Latin. Cicero's extensive writings include treatises on rhetoric, philosophy, and politics. 

Core Philosophical Beliefs

• Academic Skepticism: As a follower of the New Academy, Cicero believed absolute certainty is rare. He favored weighing arguments for and against a position to find what is most probable or reasonable rather than claiming absolute truth.
• Natural Law: Influenced by Stoicism, Cicero argued that a universal, eternal moral law exists and governs all humanity through divine reason. He maintained that human laws must align with this natural justice to be legitimate.
• Mixed Government: In political theory, he championed a balanced constitution combining monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy to prevent tyranny and maintain stability.
• Moral Duty (De Officiis): Cicero emphasized a life of active virtue, public service, and moral obligation to society, balancing personal interests with the greater good.

Major Works

• De Re Publica (On the Commonwealth): Explores the ideal state and the role of the moral statesman.  It explores the history and development of the Roman constitution, examines ideal forms of government, and defines a commonwealth (res publica) as the property of the public bound together by justice and law.
• De Legibus (On the Laws): Details the theological and philosophical foundations of justice and natural law.  Cicero argues that true law is rooted in "right reason" and nature rather than arbitrary human decrees, connecting humanity through a shared divine capacity for reason.  Laws must be just and promote the common good to be considered legitimate.
• De Officiis (On Duties): A practical guide on ethics, honor, and moral behavior addressed to his son. Cicero draws heavily on Stoic philosophy (specifically Panaetius), organizing the book around four cardinal virtues:
• Wisdom (prudence)
• Justice (fairness and keeping promises)
• Magnanimity (courage and greatness of soul)
• Propriety (decorum and moderation)

Algernon Sidney

Algernon Sidney (1623–1683) was an English politician, army colonel, and radical republican political theorist whose writings on popular sovereignty and the right to resist tyranny deeply influenced the American Founders. His “Discourses Concerning Government” is a classic 1698 poly-sci/philosophical text by English Whig politician Algernon Sidney that defends popular government and republicanism against the divine right of kings.

Core Overview

• Author: Algernon Sidney, an English republican theorist and politician who was executed for treason after the manuscript was used against him at trial.
• Publication Date: 1698 (written between 1681 and 1683 during the Exclusion Crisis).
• Primary Purpose: A direct, chapter-by-chapter refutation of Sir Robert Filmer’s Patriarcha (1680), which had argued for absolute monarchy and the divine right of kings.

Key Themes & Ideas

• Rejection of the Divine Right of Kings: Sidney dismantled Filmer's claim that monarchs derive absolute power directly from Adam and God. He argued that political authority is not inherited through a divine bloodline.
• Popular Sovereignty and Consent: He maintained that legitimate political power originates with the people. Governments exist only through the voluntary consent of the governed to serve the public good.
• Merit Over Birth: Sidney argued that leadership and the right to rule should be earned through personal virtue and merit rather than accidental birthright. He believed republics were far better suited to honor merit than monarchies.
• Limited Government and Rule of Law: Power must be restrained by law. Rulers are accountable to the laws and the people they govern, meaning arbitrary rule is inherently illegitimate.
• The Right of Revolution: If a government breaks its trust, turns to tyranny, and fails to protect the common good, citizens hold an inherent right to resist, alter, or abolish it.

Historical Impact

• Often dubbed a "textbook of the American Revolution," the work profoundly shaped 18th-century Whig thought as well as American and French republicanism.

John Locke

John Locke (1632–1704) was an influential English philosopher and physician widely known as the "father of liberalism" and a pioneer of British empiricism. His “Two Treatises of Government”, a 1689 anonymous work of political philosophy, lays the foundation for modern liberalism and government by the consent of the governed.

Core Structure and Summary

• First Treatise:
  • Rejection of the Divine Right of Kings: Locke argues that God did not give Adam absolute authority over the world or other people.
  • No Authority Through Fatherhood: Filmer claimed that kingly power is the same as paternal (fatherly) power. Locke counters that fathers have limited care over children, not life-and-death rule, and fatherhood does not pass down a right to rule.
  • Adam's Heirs Cannot Be Found: Locke points out that even if Adam had absolute power, finding his true heir today is impossible. No historical records prove who holds that line.
  • Natural Freedom: Locke concludes that humans are naturally born free and equal, rather than born as slaves to a royal family.
• Second Treatise:
  • State of Nature: People are born free, equal, and independent, guided by reason and natural law not to harm others.
  • Natural Rights: Individuals possess inherent rights to life, liberty, and property (estates).
  • Social Contract: People agree to form a community and create a government, surrendering only the power to enforce natural laws personally in exchange for security and justice.
  • Consent of the Governed: Government authority is valid only when approved by the people, who retain ultimate sovereignty.
  • Right to Revolution: If a government breaks the social contract and abuses its power or threatens people's natural rights, citizens have the right to alter or overthrow it.
• Historical Context and Significance
  • Publication: Released anonymously in late 1689 following England's Glorious Revolution to help justify the ascension of William III.
  • Impact: Heavily influenced Western political thought, serving as a primary ideological inspiration for the American Revolution, the U.S. Constitution, and the French Revolution.

Summary

All three emphasized the importance of virtue in government and political leadership.

For the Roman thinker Cicero, virtue (virtus) is an inner excellence of the soul rooted in human reason and expressed through active service to society. Cicero explained his ideas about ethics and virtue in his famous 44 BC book called De Officiis (On Duties). He believed that true goodness is tied to nature, reason, and our duty to our community.

Algernon Sidney viewed virtue as the essential foundation for human liberty and stable republican government, famously asserting in his Discourses Concerning Government that "if vice and corruption prevail, liberty cannot subsist; but if virtue have the advantage, arbitrary power cannot be established".

John Locke defined virtue as the capacity for self-denial and rational self-government, where an individual sets aside immediate desires when reason dictates. Although Locke never wrote a single systematic treatise dedicated entirely to ethics, his views on moral character appear across works like An “Essay Concerning Human Understanding” and “Some Thoughts Concerning Education”. 

Not only has the American public forgotten these persons and their ideas, but many seem to have forgotten the importance of virtue in government and political leadership, as I have written in my collected Chirps on "Virtue in America". It is time to recover their thoughts on government and the importance of virtue in government and political leadership; otherwise, we will have lost our American values and principles.

 

Please note that I wrote this Article with the help of my AI Search Assistance, as I am not sufficiently knowledgeable about this topic to write it myself. Many of the AI Search Assistance results are based on a Wikipedia article and other sources on these topics, which I have hyperlinked within this Article. I have also merged and edited the different AI Search Assistance results for organizational purposes and to improve readability, clarity, and understandability.