thomas hobbes vs john locke essay

Only available on StudyMode Read full document → Save to my library There were two brilliant men with similar occupations, but very different opinions about government. The first philosophers name was Thomas Hobbes and he wrote the social contract. His social contract talked about giving the government total power. Whereas the other philosopher called John Locke had a different view on things. He disagreed and stated just the opposite. Locke is a little more practical with his philosophy. Hobbes believed in a monarchy over the people for more control in the city. He thought that a ruler should have total power over the people because he thought that they needed more control in the city. Hobbes didn’t think that people were capable to govern themselves as if they didn’t know how. Lock on the other hand thought differently. He believed in the people not the government. John Locke thought that people should be able to govern their own affairs without being looked down on by the government. That difference in opinion is just one out of a whole list of their views on the government. There once was a legend of a great sea monster called the leviathan. In Thomas Hobbes’s eyes that was a major opportunity. He said that a great government can result from having awesome power over the leviathan and can be a new punishment for the people. So in Hobbes’s mind control over the leviathan equaled total power and the best government. John Locke on the other hand had another idea at hand. He thought that it would be best to jus leave the people alone in their mistakes. He thought that if someone makes a mistake that instead of being tried and killed for their actions, people should be able to learn from their experience and improve. One more major difference is the view on a monarchy. Hobbes that one man should rule over all. He thought it would be best to have one man in total.
No two political philosophers think alike. Political philosophers, depending on the time they lived, will have an outlook similar to that of the time period. Views can compare or contrast, that which reflect on a philosophers view of the State of Nature, man, the Civil State and power of the sovereign. Two prime examples of differences verses similarities in political philosophers is Thomas Hobbes and John Locke. Thomas Hobbes lived from 1588-1679; he resided in England during the reign of Henry VII, who was a monarch, followed by Elizabeth I and James (VI) I. During this time the Church of England was established and created for political reasons with no central religious leader, after this was the Stuart Dynasty, which was accompanied by religious problems. Finally a new government arose called Commonwealth with a dictatorship of Oliver Cromwell and Charles II. At this time, there was a period if chaos, killing, the Civil War and anarchy. This is what greatly affected Hobbes writings. During this time new rulers emerged and it was known as the Age of Enlightenment or the Age of Reason. At this time, a scientific awakening affected Hobbes; he gained more knowledge of political philosophy. He looked up to and worked with Galileo and Newton. In the Leviathan, Hobbes major political philosophy work, he established political theory on a scientific basis. Hobbes sees the State of Nature as conditions of man before any state or civil society or government existed. Hobbes sees man in the State of Nature as equal and evil. Man is equal in the state of nature, he states There is no reason why any man trusting to his own strength should conceive himself made by nature above others, they are equals who can do equal things one against the other  (Hobbes 760-61). Hobbes also put in plain words that men are evil resulting in their actions towards one another, All men in the.
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Only available on StudyMode Read full document → Save to my library Man: The Social Animal Brian Greaney Political Science 230 Prof. T. Mullins April 18, 2011 John Locke and Thomas Hobbes were two main political philosophers during the seventeenth century. Hobbes is largely known for his writing of the “Leviathan”, and Locke for authoring An Essay Concerning Human Understanding. Included in their essays, both men discuss the purpose and structure of government, natural law, and the characteristics of man in and out of the state of nature. The two men's opinion of man vary widely. Hobbes sees man as being evil, whereas Locke views man in a much more optimistic light. While in the state of nature and under natural law, they both agree that man is equal. However, their ideas of natural law differ greatly. Hobbes positions himself with the view that the state of nature is a state of war where every man is for himself and loyalty to another being will only bring dismay. Contrastingly, Locke sees natural law and the state of nature as a place of equality and freedom for all. Locke therefore believes that government is necessary in order to preserve natural law, and on the contrary, Hobbes sees government as necessary in order to control natural law. Hobbes and Locke see mankind's natural characteristics in two very different ways. Hobbes describes the life of man as solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short. It is obvious he does not view man in a high fashion. He also says that men cannot believe that there are others as or more wise than themselves, expressing his discontent with how selfish men are. Conversely, Locke views mankind's natural characteristics much more optimistically. He sees man to be governed by logical reason. Locke understands man to be capable individuals able to think rationally and have the desire to coexist peacefully. Hobbes and Locke disagree on.
Discuss the Characteristics of Locke’s Man in the State of Nature and Thereafter Compare or Contrast them with the Characteristics Described by any other Republican Theorist The State of Nature is a useful philosophical model which allows social contract theorists to present their understanding of human nature and offer a justification for the erection of government. John Locke and Thomas Hobbes have both submitted competing versions of such a state in Two Treatises of Government and Leviathan respectively, and they arrive at very different conclusions. An evaluation of their conception of pre-societal man accounts in large part for the divergence in their views on what form a Commonwealth should assume and what powers it should be endowed with. This essay will analyze Locke’s man in the state of nature and subsequently juxtapose it with Hobbes’ in an effort to shed light on the differences between two of the great 17th century thinkers. Locke uses the state of nature as the starting point for his second, and most salient, Treatise. This is a condition where there is for men “a State of perfect Freedom to order their Actions and dispose of their Possessions, and Persons as they think fit, within the bounds of the Law of Nature, without asking leave, or depending upon the Will of any other man.” From this very first sentence, it is evident that Locke follows in the Natural Law tradition which states that men inherently have a moral sense which restricts them from engaging in certain acts. By virtue of being children of God, we know what is right and wrong and by extension what is lawful, and we can therefore resolve conflicts fairly consistently. As a result, for Locke, the state of nature is not a state of License because man “has not Liberty to destroy himself, or so much as any Creature in his Possession, but where some nobler use, than its bare Preservation calls.
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