Hobbes Vs John Locke Essay

Locke and Hobbes were both social contract theorists, and both natural law theorists, but there the resemblance ends. All other natural law theorists assumed that man was by nature a social animal. Hobbes assumed otherwise, thus his conclusions are strikingly different from those of other natural law theorists.

The government is a set of rules basically made by the people so they can be a unified society. We have this to regulate and organize human activities to improve negatives upon the State of Nature. John Hobbes and Thomas Locke were known as natural law and social contract theorists. However, they were two completely different people in terms of their stands and conclusions in several laws of nature.

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

John Locke, view on natural laws and the human nature was quite simple his philosophy states that all humans must simple live by the natural law. His approach was based on ethics and not obligation, it is an individual’s right to preserve themselves to reach his own good, and as well have the opportunity as they wish. Locke believed that the humans was happy for the most part that there is peace in the heart

Both Thomas Hobbes and John Locke have impacted politics in a way that has affected how the world is today. These two individuals have shaped government as we now know it by introducing the idea of popular contract, which states that the government gets its power from the people.These two men are very similar in some ways. They were both educated men who believed that government is a necessity. However, they had very different views on life. Hobbes view was a darker view. He says that men form government as a method of self-preservation, that they are fearful for their lives, so they form a government as a means of protection. He believes that government is based on fear. Men who are scared to go into battle will go because they are more scared

Thomas Hobbes was born at Wiltshire, England, on 5 April 1588. He went to the University of Oxford he studied classic. He travels many places in Europe to educate himself on different types of government. He was trying to understand why people are willing to be ruled by other individuals and to understand what was the most exquisite kind of authority was. In 1651, Leviathan was published which was his own perspective built on what he believe; which was that people were “naturally wicked and could not be trusted to govern”. He believes the humans were selfish and evil creatures. That led him to believe that humans should not obtain the right to make their own decision. He believes that a should replace the government he had a feeling that

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

John Locke believed that natural rights were essential to an individual’s life. “... life, liberty and property existed in the state of nature and could never be taken away or even voluntarily given up,” he argued against Hobbes’ opinion, on the people laying down their natural rights of freedom to a single ruler. He deduced that these natural rights were impossible to surrender because they came with human nature. With the idea that individuals had both the right and the responsibility to preserve their own lives with the resources they had.

From the mid seventeenth to nineteenth centuries, there was an ‘Enlightenment' movement that swept across Europe. The theorists behind this act rejected the ‘original sin' concept, maintained the argument that humans could grow and progress, and stated that humans could reorganize society on the grounds of equality, justice, and freedom. Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau were all members of The Enlightenment movement, and each had their own idea on how human society should be structured and run. Locke and Hobbes lived around the same time, and some of their political theories were the same, however, by the time Rousseau came along, much had changed.

I believe both Hobbes and Locke are similar in the way that both of their theories are based on the natural state of human, a situation where everyone is entirely free because there is no interference of laws, but where man fears for their survival on a daily bases. They both agreed that a ruler of some sort appeared absolutely necessary for people, without

John Locke and Thomas Hobbes are one of the most influential and famous philosophers who both had similar theories but had different conclusions. The two philosophers wrote a discourse “life in the state of nature” and argued about the government. They both had made important and logical contributions to modern philosophy and opened up political thoughts which have impacted our world today. During the seventeenth century the thought of political philosophy became a big topic. John Locke and Thomas Hobbes both started questioning the political philosophy and had had different views and reasoning towards human beings. Both Hobbes and Locke had logical and reasonable theories in which they had opposed to one another. Although each philosopher

John Locke and Thomas Hobbes both agreed that a leader or ruler was absolutely necessary for a country to succeed. Without a leader, the country would fail. They both believed a ruler should reside supreme. Hobbes thought that only one man, a king, should have the right to govern the people. One king should make the decisions, write the laws, and control the people. Locke, on the other hand, felt that the people should be the main concern of the government. He believed that the people should have a say in everything the government decided, including who ruled over the country. Locke also believed that if the government did not uphold its responsibilities, then the people had the right to overthrow the government.

Thomas Hobbes and john Locke were both enlightment philosophers who use the state of nature as a formula in political philosophy. Both Locke and Hobbes had tried to influence by their sociopolitical background, “to expose the man as he was before the advent of the social life” (). Locke and Hobbes addressed man’s relation to the society around him; however, they came to different conclusions regarding the nature of human government.

In conclusion, even though both readings by Hobbes and Locke, they have the similarities of natural equality, rights and liberty. I agreed with Locke because his ideas inspired the thinking of our founding fathers of this country. Majority of his ideas outline and made the constitution and declaration of independence. His ideas of the social contract, the equality of men, property rights and etc was exclusively the reasons what our society is held on. John locked believed in natural rights. The role of individuals were believing in John Locke. They believed in Locke’s idea that the government had a responsibility to protect the citizen’s natural rights. Everyone is entitled to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness and that is what I mainly

Throughout history, there have been many political philosophers whom influenced the government seen in history books and in modern-day society. Despite the varying ideas about government by each political theorist, aspects of each individual idea can be seen in several political documents such as the United States Declaration of Independence. One of these political theorists being Thomas Hobbes, who believed that people would benefit greatly from a Monarch. While John Locke, another renowned political theorist believed that, though the government could help the people, but did not need absolute control over every aspect of their lives. Though, both theorists had different ideology on the structure of the government the ideas would later go on to influence several political documents including the United States Declaration of Independence.