Hobbes vs. Locke: Development and Expansion of Political Thought Comparing and Contrasting Hobbes Leviathan and Locke’s Second Treatise of Government This essay will compare and contrast several of the political theories on natural law‚ the need for government and structure thereof‚ as expressed in Thomas Hobbes’ Leviathan and John Locke’s Second Treatise of Government. Similarities and differences of political theories are found in these two works‚ posing the question of whether Locke’s
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The “State of Nature” in this post-9/11 21st Century America is one of self-induced fear‚ not by the US citizens but by our president. With constant reminders of terrorist threats against the US‚ as well as the constant state of high alert‚ the president has placed Americans in a tough place. US citizens are in constant fear and are looking to their government for protection. This idea stems back to the writings of Hobbes in Leviathan. Hobbes critiques the effects of government‚ or as lack there
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theorists Thomas Hobbes and John Locke agree that legitimate government comes only from the mutual consent of those governed. Although both were empiricists‚ the ways by which they came to their conclusions differed wildly‚ and perhaps as a result their views on the means by which society should be governed also conflicted. This paper will briefly address the different conclusions as well as the reasoning that led to them. Written during the English Civil War of 1642-51‚ Hobbes’ Leviathan is presented
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thinkers Thomas Hobbes and John Locke. The majority of commonalities between Rousseau and Marx are in the fact that they refuted parts of Hobbes and Locke‚ that is where the comparisons between the two end also. The root of each man’s disagreement comes from a very different place and pose arguments that are centered on different ideas‚ Marx took issue with the liberal idea of an economic class system while Rousseau did not accept Hobbes’ or Locke’s take on the “state of nature”.
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approaches of Thomas Hobbes and John Locke will be explored to compare their goals for the ideal sate. Hobbes and Locke were significant political philosophers‚ predominantly in the 17th Century‚ most importantly for being natural law and social contract theorists. Hobbes and Locke both vary in their approaches as Hobbes is labelled a pessimist‚ while Locke is considered an optimist‚ influencing how they perceive the idea state to look like. The social contract theory was addressed by Hobbes first then Locke
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Thomas Hobbes’ imagined “state of nature” is full of “masterless men” (p. 140). Jean Jacque Rousseau’s imagined “state of nature” is full of radically independent‚ solitary individuals who are innocent of good and evil. How does Hobbes come to that conclusion about man in the state of nature? On what kinds of evidence does he rely? How does Rousseau come to his conclusion about individuals in the state of nature. On what kind of arguments does he rely? Compare and contrast their imagined states of nature
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Hobbes and the Hypothetical Contract In dealing with the problem with political authority Thomas Hobbes proposes that state’s derive their power from a hypothetical social contract that is made between a government and its citizens. It attempts to solve the problem with political legitimacy and political obligation; the right to rule and the reason citizens obey those in power. Hobbes believes that the only way to get out of a wild and unjust “state of nature” is to collectively give up some of
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Thomas Hobbes and John Locke were two of the greatest political and philosophical thinkers of their time and ours. Ideas like these have shaped governments throughout history and still hold true today. They had extremely different views on government‚ but the bases of their arguments were similar. They used reason to justify their ideas‚ rather than divine right. Although both men acknowledged that there was a God‚ He played a very small part in their ideologies. The philosophers each had an impact
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philosopher and social contract theorists of all time‚ John Locke and Thomas Hobbes both used ‘The State of Nature’ as a medium in order to understand the basic human nature and natural human rights in their writings. Both‚ then used their own understanding of the human nature in order to determine and justify the ideal form of government‚ its role and its powers. However‚ Locke and Hobbes reach markedly different conclusions. Hobbes argues that every man should concede all of his natural rights to the
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there is little consensus to exactly what this would be. Thomas Hobbes and Jean-Jacques Rousseau‚ in their books The Leviathan and The Social Contract‚ create a system of political governing where the citizen plays a certain role and has certain expectations to carry out this role for the governmental system to work properly. In this paper‚ I will discuss what each of the men believed to be the role of the average citizen to support the state. Both men have quite different opinions in regards to the roles
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