Compare and Contrast John Locke and Thomas Hobbes

Thomas Hobbes and John Locke are comparable in their basic political ideologies about man and their rights in the state of nature before they enter a civil society. Their political ideas are very much similar in that regard. The resemblance between Hobbes and Locke’s philosophies are based on a few characteristics of the state of nature and the state of man. Firstly, in the state of nature both Hobbes and Locke agree that all men are created equal, but their definitions of equality in the state of nature slightly differ. According to Locke, “…in the state of nature… no one has power over another…” Locke’s version or idea of equality in the state of

His opinion of human nature was low. In Leviathan, Hobbes portrays humans as selfish, unsocial creatures driven by only two need, survival and personal gain. Therefore, human life is characterized by “constant struggle, strife, and war” with individuals against one another in a battle for self preservation . Hobbes claimed that there was “a general inclination of all [human]kind, a perpetual and restless desire of power after power, that ceaseth only in death.” Therefore, Hobbes concludes that because of the selfishness of humans, they have no capacity of self government. Locke view humans is a different perspective. Locke developed his own philosophy, which is referred to as tabula rosa. Put simply, this refers to the idea that the human mind at birth is a blank slate without rules for processing data. Data is accumulated in the mind as the rules of processing data are formed. According to Locke, these rules are formed solely on a person’s sensory experience, therefore, Locke will argue that a person is neither good nor evil at birth, it is the summation of their experiences that determine the person that they become. That being said, humans can be educated to an inclination of good rather than evil. As a result, “the state of nature has a law of nature to govern it, which obliges everyone: and reason, which is that law, teaches all [human]kind, who will but consult it, that being

Thomas Hobbes and John Locke are similar in many ways, and different in many ways. Hobbes believes in the state of of nature. John Locke also believes in this. Another similarity is that they both believe in social contract.

Hobbes believed that people are horrible and evil, and that before society everything was nice and great. Locke believed the opposite of that, he thought people were nice, caring and reasonable and before society the world was horrible and violent.

Thomas Hobbes was an English Philosopher who was born in 1588. Hobbes is best known for his book Leviathan, which was published in 1651. Hobbes' political philosophy can best be described as philosophical absolutism, the absolute rule of a people by a ruler. The book Leviathan was based on the idea that a government should be too strong for the people to overthrow and can rule the people with absolute power. Hobbes chose a Leviathan to represent the government that has absolute power and is strong enough to never be overthrown. Another famous English philosopher whose ideas are often compared to Hobbes is, John Locke. Locke was born in England in 1632 and is best known for his work Two Treatises of Government, a book in which Locke outlines his views on government and the role it should play. Unlike Hobbes, Locke's political philosophy is best described as philosophical constitutionalism, which is the belief that the people should have control of the government and not a single ruler. Locke's political ideals are the foundation on which the United States Constitution was written. (Uzgalis, 2017)

Locke and Hobbes’s ideas quarreled with one another as they we drastically different from one another. Some points matched up such as, the fact that men should be governed. One major point that contradicted each other was that Locke believed that man should consent to be governed and have a say in the government. Hobbes believed that man should be governed and have no say over who their ruler is or what laws they are to abide. Locke believed as well that men are naturally free. Hobbes believed man mustn’t be free or they will be at a natural state of war with one another. This means that they must be governed and suppressed. Their views created a spectrum we can now place different political systems on to.

There are many differences in the views of these three men on the topic of human nature and government, but it was ultimately these philosophers who used natural law to explain the aspects of humanity, it was these men’s ideas who were key to the era of Enlightenment and life beyond it. Born on April 5 1588, Thomas Hobbes came to be known as one of the greatest philosophers in the world. In his most famous work, the Leviathan, he sets forth his ideas on government and law. Thomas Hobbes believed that all humans were born with sin. He believed that all humans were evil, cruel, greedy, and selfish. Even though he thought we were naturally evil, his theories also stated how they can be kept under control. He argued if countries were establish powerful and strict government, the people would have no choice but maintain order. He also believed that they should enter a social contract. When signing the Social Contract, you agree to give up your freedom for the better of the society. In other words, the government places limitations on you for everything. In the quote from Leviathan, he talks about the transfer of power and strength from the common people to one man, or one legislature. This is because Thomas Hobbes thinks the only type of government that is capable of keeping order in society is an absolute monarchy. In opposition to Hobbes’s ideas, a man with the name of John Locke came about with

In order for me to evaluate my perception of Hobbes and Locke, I must address my own personal views on human nature. First, humans do everything to protect themselves and their own interests. This is not to say that humans are incapable of being altruistic, but it all derives from what is in the best interest of the individual. This is vastly different from Hobbes ' antisocial and war-against-all mentality. Second, humans are neither good nor bad, just products of life experiences. This is similar to Locke 's support of the tabula rasa. Third, humans will naturally resist dominance, and thus will not tolerate long-term oppression as advocated by Hobbes in his The Leviathan.

Thomas Hobbes in his famous reading Leviathan describes a dark state of nature. He claims that all of mankind is greedy, self-interested and only care for things that benefit themselves. In his mind, we do whatever we feel necessary to further our self preservation. Due to this, "all against all" mentality that Hobbes believed we carry, he believed that it was mandatory for us to have a higher authority figure. He argued that this authority figure or 'sovereign' would help control human behaviour and ensure that the fear of punishment for breaking laws would help maintain peace and prevent us from our true nature. Hobbes suggested that since the state of nature is equivalent to the state of fear, there be a social contract put in place. This

Both Thomas Hobbes and John Locke are well-known political philosophers and social contract theorists. Social Contract Theory is, “the hypothesis that one’s moral obligations are dependent upon an implicit agreement between individuals to form a society.” (IEP, Friend). Both Hobbes and Locke are primarily known for their works concerning political philosophy, namely Hobbes’ Leviathan and Locke’s Two Treatise of Government. Both works contain a different view of a State of Nature and lay out social contracts designed to neutralize the chaos inherent in that state. Though Hobbes and Locke have a different understanding of the State of Nature, they share similar social contracts, except with regards to representation and the role of the

Thomas Hobbes and John Locke were philosophers from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The two men both had very strong views on freedom and how a country should be governed. Their view points are famous for contrasting one another. Hobbes has more of a pessimistic view on freedom while Locke’s opinions are more optimistic.

Hobbes and Locke are the founders of social contract theory, Hobbes’ Leviathan was the first political philosophy to discuss social contract theory and the state of nature followed by John Locke’s Second Treatise of Government, both of their theories are distinct form each other but yet related. Hobbes and lock are both considered the first classical liberals, they differed from other classical philosophers because of their individualistic society, rather than a communal society that promotes the moral way to live one’s life. According to classical liberalism the government should not promote morality, rather to only protect people’s rights to pursue their desires. They both believed that man was born free and equal, and has the right to choose who governs them. Hobbes believed in a minimalist government that promotes the rights of individuals to life and freedom of movements, while Locke also believes in an even more limited government that promotes life liberty and property.

Both John Locke and Thomas Hobbes have many things in common, for one such as they both influenced the government of today. They both explained the relationship between the state and the individual, which meant that there would be rules or in other words laws so crimes wouldn’t just be allowed to happen, along with that as an individual person you have the right to practice your own religion or marry who you please and so forth. They both seemed to agree with that in order for society to thrive there would have to be some sort of ruler. Although in the essay, it explained how Hobbes thought that society should be ruled by someone such as a king, which

Thomas Hobbes and John Locke both experienced different things in their life, resulting in their differences in what they believed. At the time Hobbes was writing The Leviathan, England was recovering from a series of civil wars, which resulted in the beheading of Charles I. In the Leviathan he is responding to this situation a period called the interregnum, during this time England was rejecting the institution of the monarchy. Eventually it ended with restoration of Charles II. The interregnum period showed Hobbes the chaos because of decline of the monarchy, shaping his support in the monarchy. Locke also grew up in England but at a later time, and did not experience the interregnum period, but both focused on similar issues of government.

2. The political philosophies of Hobbes and Locke differ from one another. Humanity, according to Hobbes, naturally is in a state of war due to the fact that men are generally equal in ability to one another. In this state of nature, there are no laws other than the laws of nature, which state that humans will naturally seek security. In order to achieve this security of property and themselves, men will give up their rights to an authority that can enforce the laws of nature through punishment and fear. This is then called the Commonwealth, or the Leviathan. Hobbes, however, did not support the divine right of kings. He believes that the right of the sovereign is derived from the individuals who relinquish their rights in order to create the Commonwealth.