Robert Filmer

Robert Filmer was a 17th-century political theorist known for his defense of absolute monarchy. He argued that the authority of kings originated from God's divine right, meaning that rulers have a God-given right to govern without question. In his view, the monarchy was akin to a parental authority, where the king is like a father to the nation. This perspective challenged emerging ideas of democracy and popular sovereignty, emphasizing that a stable society required strong, centralized power in the hands of a monarch rather than distributed democratic authority. His ideas were influential in the context of debates about governance and authority during his time.