How Our Government was Founded

Have you ever wondered how our government was created? Two philosophers named Thomas Hobbes and John Locke played significant roles in the shaping of what is now our government. Both philosophers lived during the period of Enlightenment. Thomas Hobbes had a negative view of mankind, while John Locke had a positive view of it. Both men wrote a book and\or an essay about social contract. Each philosopher had different views on government. Thomas Hobbes and John Locke had opposing views on rebellion, too. Both men had substantial accomplishments in their lifetimes. Each philosopher played a large role in creating the government that we have today. Both Thomas Hobbes and John Locke lived during the period of Enlightenment. The Enlightenment was a period of great changes in worldviews throughout Europe, England, and the colonies. It was also called the age of science, because people began to believe that learning came from experience, and not just God or religion. Thomas Hobbes lived from 1588 to 1679, during the English Civil War. John Locke lived from 1632 to 1704. Both philosophers were very important Englishmen during the Enlightenment. Both of the philosophers had very differing views on mankind and equality. There were three main points in Hobbes’ argument about mankind. The first was that man is naturally vain and selfish. The second point always made was that people are moved by two emotions: the desire of power and the fear of death. The third point that was commonly presented is that each man is ultimately equal in that any man can kill, or be killed by another man. There were also three main points in Locke’s argument about mankind. The first point was that knowledge humans obtain is done so by observations and experiments, rather than theory. The second point was that any immoral behavior from an individual was the product of the environment in which the individual lived. The third point was that people have natural rights