Thomas Hobbes Research Paper

The revolution generated radical changes in the principles, opinions, and sentiments of the global people. New ideas and issues affected political ideas. In addition a new government was also changed. A few of the many enlightenment thinkers were Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, baron Do Montesquieu, and Jean Jacques Rousseau.

Jack and Ralph were not getting along and Jack decided that it was time to vindicate Ralph from his position as chief and make his own tribe. However, that wasn’t enough for Jack so he made the decision that Ralph needed to be killed in order for there to be proper retribution for the “crimes” that Ralph had committed. The savages had vengeance on their mind as they chanted “Kill the beast. Cut his throat. Spill his blood.” (186) Ralph of course was the “his” of this chant as he was being targeted for death. Much as the savage boys thought that the only way to properly punish Ralph for the crimes he had apparently committed was to kill him, the people of Russia during the Russian revolution thought that they had to kill the Czar and his family in order to properly change the government to the way they wanted it. The attempted killing of Ralph is much like Russia’s killing of the Czar and his family, the mob psychology took over and they attacked their enemies because they believed that it was the only way to properly rid themselves of their aggressor. The essential meaning of both of the situations described in The Lord of the Flies and Sympathy for the Devil is that when angry people are put into a mob of other angry people, their primeval savagery is revealed and they will, with ebullience follow a

John Locke and Thomas Hobbes both believe that men are equal in the state of nature, but their individual opinions about equality lead them to propose fundamentally different methods of proper civil governance. Locke argues that the correct form of civil government should be concerned with the common good of the people, and defend the citizenry’s rights to life, health, liberty, and personal possessions. Hobbes argues that the proper form of civil government must have an overarching ruler governing the people in order to avoid the state of war. I agree with Locke’s argument because it is necessary for a civil government to properly care for its citizens, which in turn prevents the state of war from occurring in society. Locke also has a

Hobbes and Locke both abandoned the thought of the divine right of monarchy. Both did not agree with the fact that the ruler or assembly would have all power over its citizens. So basically they were against Absolutism and their views were that of rebels in their time period. Theses two philosophers both held similar ideas but also have conflicting ideas pertaining to the citizens "social contract" with their rulers, "Natural Condition of Mankind," and sovereignty.

When Jack’s tribe and Ralph head up the mountain, they come into contact with a boar. Ralph hits the boar and says, “’I hit him with my spear, I wounded him’” (Golding 114). For a while, Ralph’s mind is stuck on the fact that he inflicted pain upon another form of life. Ralph then proceeded to chant along and stab at the little kid in the circle. This proves that humans are savage by nature because even Ralph, an innocent leader, turned evil. Ralph, like everyone else on the island at the end of the book, fell into the trap that is human nature. In addition to hitting the boar, Ralph also partakes in the beating and killing of Simon, an even more innocent boy. Once Simon stumbled out of the woods, Jack’s group attacked him, and so did Ralph. He didn’t who he was beating. His mind was just stuck on

Even though Jack demonstrated his leadership qualities when proposing a rescue plan to the ‘tribe’, and by accepting Ralph’s election to lead the group, something he wanted for himself, he eventually turns into a savage through killing a pig. This incident gives him a sense of power realizing that he can act with impunity without consequences. Wanting to hunt and kill pigs turned into a priority, eliminating the need to be

James Madison strongly believed and supported increasing national power of government and that led him to establish his model known as Madison’s model. James Madison’s design to maximize liberty and still allow the government to govern is proven through the four component parts of Madison’s model. These four components include separation of powers, checks and balances, federalism, and republicanism. The philosophies of John Locke and Thomas Hobbes influenced Madison in a way that allowed him to have both liberty and order at the same time. John Locke believed in individual liberty and freedom from the government whilst Thomas Hobbes believed that the state of nature is that people are born selfish. These two philosophers managed to influence Madison because Madison wanted liberty but also wanted order and that was mentioned in Hobbes’s theory of a strong leader which provided order.

After Simon and Piggy die and Sam and Eric are captured, the only person left in Ralph’s tribe is Ralph. Jack’s anger and hatred towards Ralph continues to live within himself. As a result of this hatred and anger from Jack, he sets the jungle on fire in order to find and kill Ralph. “He wormed his way through the thicket toward the forest, keeping as far as possible beneath the smoke” (216). Jack’s actions clearly show that savagery overrules civilization. It makes sense that Jack has a strong desire to hunt Ralph because Jack represents savagery and Ralph represents civilization. Emphasizing the symbol throughout the novel, especially when Jack overrides Ralph, clearly shows that savagery always conquers

The conflict between Ralph and Jack shows how lack of civilization can result to savagery. Ralph states, “We need shelters” contrasting to Jack who says, “We need meat” (Golding, p.42). The lack of civilization in Jack shows because he thinks hunting is more important than shelters although he has yet to catch a pig, while on the other hand Ralph thinks it’s more important to build shelter for a sense of home and protection from the rain and the beastie that all the littluns are afraid of. “Let him be chief with the trumpet-thing”(Golding, p. 15). This quote states that Ralph should be in charge because he has the conch, and Jack gets upset since he is not voted chief but then Ralph puts him charge of the choir boys who later on become the hunters. Ralph creates civilization when he is given power to become the chief on the island, and he has the power with or without the conch. Later in the novel when Ralph realizes he doesn’t like being dirty and “disliked perpetually flicking the tangled hair put of his eyes,” it shows that Ralph is used the civilization he had before and wants to return to that civilization (Golding, p.66). Then Jack becomes an example of savagery when he shows up to the fire in chapter 8, “stark naked save for the paint and a belt” (Golding, p.125). Ralph and his followers show the civilized and orderly side of the island, but on the contrary, Jack and his tribe show the savagery of man and barbaric side of the island.

Locke and Hobbes started with a central notion that people with similar “state of nature” would on their own accord come together as a state. Locke believed that individual would not perpetually be at war with each other. He believed humans began with a state of natural characteristics of absolute freedom with no government in site. Hobbes work differs from that of Locke’s because he felt people needed a strong central authority to ward off the inherent evil and anarchic state of man. Locke believed that within the state of nature man would have stronger morals and thus limit their actions. Locke also, credited people with the ability to do the right thing within a group. And the natural rights and civil society where Hobbes differentiated with this by believing that people had to resolve their natural rights and the their were privileges granted by the sovereign. Locke believed the relationship between citizens and government took the form of a social contract, in which in exchange for order and protections provided by institutions the citizens agree to surrender some of the freedoms within the state of nature. This was also, agreed that power of the state was not absolute but exercised according to law. If broken by the state it forfeits and the contract becomes void. This allots for the citizens of the state to have a “voice” and power for change to replace the government with moral obligation by the governed. Hobbes believed absolute power was the price man should

As Jack began to hunt, savagery took over, and the thought of being rescued disappeared. Ralph realised the fire had died, as a passing ship left without noticing stranded children, “ They let the bloody fire go out” (Golding 68). “We can light the fire again. You should have been with us, Ralph. We had a smashing time. The twins got knocked over” (69). Or “I cut the pig's throat” … “ There was lashings of blood” … “You should have seen it!” (69). As Jack persuaded the others to hunt, the savagery took over causing them to neglect the idea of safety. Savagery began within all of the boys, and it came instinctively while applying war paint, and slaughtering pigs on the island. Throughout Lord of the Flies, savagery grew within each boy, mainly having a large effect on Jack and

In the 18th century, a fierce debate broke out among many philosophers about the nature of the human psyche. Many argued whether humans in a state of nature were constantly at war with one another or whether these same humans were peaceful in their natural setting. From this debate, many other important philosophical arguments arose over the state of human nature. One of the most important arguments was the discussion of equality between human beings. Many authors believed that natural inequalities existed between human being. While others debated that human inequality was either negligible or completely non-existent. Within this debate, two thinkers, Thomas Hobbes and Adam Smith, came down with complex arguments on the equality of human beings. This essay will begin by walking through the argument of each influential thinkers. After establishing the argument of each writer the essay will then make the argument that Thomas Hobbes has a greater commitment to the idea of natural equality based off his that even though natural differences exist these are so negligible that their existence is unimportant.

Although the boys would prefer to have fun and play games, they follow Ralph’s rules at first. This order is maintained until Ralph loses his leadership role to Jack. After providing, or bribing, the boys with juicy pig meat, Jack asks “’Who’ll join my tribe and have fun?’” (211). This lure of enjoyment along with the promise of more food sways the boys to follow Jack. With the demise of Ralph’s leadership and under the leadership of Jack, the boys begin to turn towards savagery.

Secondly, when we ask the question, what is freedom, we are not simply asking for a definition. We are seeking to find some truth in regards to liberty. We don’t ask this difficult question in order to get some sort of dictionary definition, we ask this question in order to gain insight. We ask this question to know how we should live our lives and how our government and other institutions should act in respect to liberty and our freedoms. Berlin’s two conceptions not only provide us with a definition, but also helps us determine how our society and laws should progress.

The relationship of violence and “the good” in society can be looked at from two different perspectives. Girard sees “the good” or when violence in beneficial in society when it is used to stop other violence within the society, “Thus the “regular exercise of ‘good’ violence” is used to counter “bad’ violence.” (Pg. 239, Girard). Hobbes on the other hand believes “the good” is when the human’s natural violent nature can be stopped through the good of reason, the reason laws were brought about. When Hobbes talks about reason he refers to the relationship between the means and the end. His purpose of this relationship was to achieve social industry and peace through which laws were made through a common power. Laws is a direct focus from the