Similarities Between John Locke And Thomas Hobbes
As humans, it is our natural instinct to do whatever it takes to survive. The state of nature describes man before any type of civil society is introduced. John Locke and Thomas Hobbes were both social contract theorists that have two very different opinions about how exactly we behave and what type of governing body would be most successful. While both Hobbes and Locke agree that individual power must be forfeited in order to achieve peace, Hobbes’s idea of how much power is extreme. Locke’s theories explain human nature more accurately and portray a better form of government through his ideas on natural right and democracy. John Locke describes the state of nature as a logical abstraction from the essential nature of man. According to him,
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The role of the state should only be to ensure justice is served. In terms of decision making, that is left to the people as a whole. Today, democracy is the preferred form of government, but Locke is suggesting even a direct democracy would be the best form of government. In a state of democracy, “men being, as had been said, by nature, all free, equal, and independent, no one can be put out of this estate, and subjected to the political power of another, without his own consent. The only way whereby any one divests himself of his natural liberty, and puts on the bonds of civil society, is by agreeing with other men to join and unite into a community for their comfortable, safe, and peaceable living amongst another, in a secure enjoyment of their properties, and a greater security against any, that are not of it” (Locke, 52, 95). The basis of this form of government is that man joins freely and is consensually under the rule of the majority of the people. Because the people voluntarily submit themselves to a certain body of power, they are more likely to agree with what the majority agrees on and therefore produces less conflict. In addition to this, if one does not agree, they have to right to remove themselves from that specific civil society and enter into a new one. This allows for more political freedom and choice among the
The role of the state should only be to ensure justice is served. In terms of decision making, that is left to the people as a whole. Today, democracy is the preferred form of government, but Locke is suggesting even a direct democracy would be the best form of government. In a state of democracy, “men being, as had been said, by nature, all free, equal, and independent, no one can be put out of this estate, and subjected to the political power of another, without his own consent. The only way whereby any one divests himself of his natural liberty, and puts on the bonds of civil society, is by agreeing with other men to join and unite into a community for their comfortable, safe, and peaceable living amongst another, in a secure enjoyment of their properties, and a greater security against any, that are not of it” (Locke, 52, 95). The basis of this form of government is that man joins freely and is consensually under the rule of the majority of the people. Because the people voluntarily submit themselves to a certain body of power, they are more likely to agree with what the majority agrees on and therefore produces less conflict. In addition to this, if one does not agree, they have to right to remove themselves from that specific civil society and enter into a new one. This allows for more political freedom and choice among the