Two-sided coin: Thomas Hobbes vs. John Locke
There are always two-sides everything including people and the government, kind of like science vs. faith view. With Thomas Hobbes and John Locke, they give the impression to be on opposite sides when it comes to people, society and the government even and yet both were Englishmen. Hobbes was born 5 April 1588 and died 4 December 1679; he is best known today for his work on political philosophy. While John Locke was 29 August 1632 and died 28 October 1704, and is widely known as the Father of Classical Liberalism, His work greatly affected the development of epistemology and political philosophy. Hobbes wrote Leviathan in 1651, which established the foundation for most of Western political
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While Locke’s idea is from the bottom up, like the good objective come form the people to the government.
To continue this thought process with Rights. Hobbes thought you conceded your rights to the government, in return for your life. That People are born with rights that they relinquish to the monarch in return for protection, this is known as social contract. Again this view is that good comes from the government down to the people. Hobbes augments kind of makes since in a way, we down give of some privacy rights for example the NSA Spying program or when we fly, but get search by the TSA beforehand. While Locke thought men have rights by their nature, and came up with the idea that all people are born with certain inalienable rights; life, liberty, the right to own property. We see this very argument in today’s government, when issues about National Security come up. The NSA spying program, one side says that people are going to have to give up there rights in order to be protected, while the other side thinks that people have the right to privative at all times.
Long before there were ever organized Government, there was state of nature. Which was a concept of what the lives of people might have been like before societies came into existence. With Hobbes, argued that all humans are by nature equal in faculties of body and mind. From this equality and other causes in human nature, everyone is naturally willing
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
Hobbes states that the proper form of civil government must have a supreme ruler governing the people in order to avoid the state of war. He believes that the goal of the people is to escape the state of war, and that they are willing to transfer their rights in order to leave it. “Whensoever a man transfers his right, or renounces it; it is either in consideration of some right reciprocally transferred to himself; or for some other good he hopes for thereby. For it is a voluntary act: and of the voluntary acts of every man, the object is some good to himself.”3 He believes that all men are equal in the state of nature despite any preexisting differences between them because they are ultimately powerful enough to defend themselves and their resources. “Nature hath made men so equal, in the faculties of the body, and mind; so that though there be found one man sometime manifestly stronger in body, or of quicker mind than another; yet
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.
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.
Contrasting Hobbes and Locke Nearly two-hundred and twenty-five years ago the United States of America chose to fight a Thomas Hobbes government, with the hope of forming a John Locke institution. The ideas of these men lead to the formation of two of the strongest nations in the history of the world: Great Britain followed by the United States. Thomas Hobbes viewed the ideal government as an absolute monarchy, due to the chaos of the state of nature in contrast, John Locke’s ideal government was a democracy due to his beliefs of the equality of men. These men have shared a few of the same beliefs, but mainly contrast each other.
Hobbes always found ways working for many affluent and elegant families. Hobbes joined together where activists of the king, members of the parliament and other rich landowners were discussed, and his knowledgeable aptitude brought him closer to power through that benefit (“John Locke: Biography.”) Without a strong government, Hobbes claims, the people will be left alone in a disorganized society (“John Locke: Biography.”) If an individual could do as they please it would lead to violence and conflict. To escape the idea of a chaotic nation, the people instead agreed to a social contract. Hobbes believed a society populated under a sovereign authority must be able to surrender their natural rights in exchange for protection. According to the Declaration of Independence, which states that all men have the right of liberty, life, and the pursuit of happiness. Hobbes thought life was the most importance and government should protect your well being. This is prebeavent to the constitution when it included the bill of rights. The bill of rights protected every individual’s freedom, the document contained ten amendments dedicated to preserving citizen’s
Change is in the inevitable byproduct of society. As societies evolve they change according to the life style of the people who inhabit them. Without change, society would never progress and thus would be frozen in a single moment in time. Thomas Hobbes and John Lock were two English philosophers who observed tremendous changes in English politics between the years of 1640 and 1690. In closely examining the views of both of these philosophers in subject areas such as the nature of man in society, the relationship between a society and its government, and the affect that both philosophers’ novels had on the government, it can be concluded that both Hobbes and Locke’s philosophies created prominent change in the methods of government.
The formation of government is one of the central themes for both Hobbes and Locke. Whether or not men naturally form a government, or must form a government, is based on man’s basic nature. According to Hobbes, a government must be formed to preserve life and prevent loss of property. According to Locke, a government arises to protect life and property. Governments are born of inequality and formed to administer equality.
In conclusion, John Locke and Thomas Hobbes both had different views on government. Locke believed that people should have rights while Hobbes believed otherwise. John Locke’s views were more effective 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
The ideas presented by Hobbes and Locke are often in opposition. Hobbes views humanity much more pessimistically; viewing men as evil according to natural law and government a way to eliminate natural law. Locke takes a much more optimistic stance; viewing government a means to preserve the state of nature and enhance it as men are naturally peaceful and equal. Discarding the differences in ideology, their ideas were radical for their time. The interest they took in natural law, man's natural characteristics, and the role of government, provided inspiration for, and was the focus of many literary works for the future.
Both men had very strong opinions on how we as humans, and how government, should be run. My paragraph is on the views of, John Locke, and Thomas Hobbes. During the time they lived civil war raged on in Great Britain, and this was where their views on human beings developed. Thomas Hobbes originally coming from a family that strongly believed that absolute monarchy, was influenced by the English civil war. John Locke, on the other hand, believed that people should always have a say in who runs things, and also have the right to rebel against tyrants.
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
In contrast to Hobbes’ pessimistic outlook, Locke places trust in the goodness of human nature. “This equality of men by nature . . . [obligates] mutual love amongst men, on which he builds the duties they owe one another . . . the great maxims of justice and charity” (Locke 8). While Hobbesian equality turns men against each another in the pursuit of similar desires, Locke’s state of equality encourages charity. Locke believes human nature freely shares itself with others: “Every one, as he is bound to preserve himself . . . ought he, to preserve the rest of mankind” (Locke 8). As much as one wishes to fulfill his own needs, he also
Two great thinkers John Locke and Thomas Hobbes I will first start off with some background on John Locke and Thomas Hobbes, John Locke was an English philosopher and physician, widely regarded as one of the most influential of Enlightenment thinkers and commonly known as the "Father of Liberalism”. Thomas Hobbes of Malmesbury, in some older texts Thomas Hobbs of Malmsbury, was an English philosopher, best known today for his work on political philosophy. John Locke and Thomas Hobbes common views were that government was created of men to protect their rights, not just the right of life and survival as Hobbes believed, but also the rights of liberty and property. John Locke trusted that the most appropriate authority was one that protected