Hobbes vs Locke During the Enlightenment‚ or the Age of Reason of the 17th and 18th century in Europe‚ two great thinkers‚ Thomas Hobbes and John Locke‚ promoted their conflicting views on government. They stood off firmly as rivals as one respectively desired a society in which a monarch was present while the other insisted that people were capable of governing themselves. Their philosophies also contradicted each other on the nature of man. Their ideals on politics have always been of large debate
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well defined by both John Locke and Thomas Hobbes. Thomas Hobbes was born in 1588AD and died in 1679AD. He lived during the reign of Charles the King‚ an era when parliament was challenging the authority of the king. During this time there were a lot of civil wars in England. Because of this civil wars‚ he (Hobbes) believed that he was not born alone but had a brother-Fear. He says this because his mother gave birth to him pre-maturely as a result of fear during his birth. Hobbes is often considered
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What is common in Locke‚ Hobbes and Rousseau is state of nature. In the state of nature all people are equal although they have different tallents they are equal‚ because having different tallents doesn’t prevent equality - and have same rights but in time they try to command each other and make domination upon them. Hobbes associate this desire with the effort to dispel the insecurity which is caused by equality between people. According to his opinion‚ if two people desire the same thing that
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The Influence of John Locke John Locke was someone more than just an ordinary man. He was the son of a country attorney and born on August 29‚ 1632. He grew up during the civil war and later entered the Church of Christ‚ Oxford‚ where he remained as a student and teacher for many years. (Rivitch 23) With a wide variety of political and religious views‚ he expressed most of his personnel views on education and social and political philosophies. Once he noted the five
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John Locke’s influence in modern philosophy has been profound and‚ with his application of experimental analysis to ethics‚ politics‚ and religion‚ he remains one of the most important and controversial philosophers of all time. His ideas and writings lived way beyond his time‚ and have proven to be the reason the colonies broke away from their mother country and learned to expect certain rights from their government. In The Second Treatise of Government‚ Locke defines political power as the inalienable
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In order to understand how the American government works‚ one must address the questions‚ who governs and for what purpose. However‚ the obvious answer may not be the correct one. Many may think that those who govern are the people or perhaps politicians. In actuality‚ there is no definite individual or particular group who governs. Instead governing is a process‚ which involves several groups (voters‚ candidates‚ parties‚ executive officials etc) who carry out the policies of the people by
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Thomas Hobbes was an absolute monarchist that believed human beings were organisms that were in constant motion‚ and needed to have some sort of authority or restraint‚ so they could be stopped from pursuing any selfish act. In contrast to John Locke were he believed in a democratic rule and constitutes that human nature was identified by reason and tolerance. The political ideology that Hobbes obtains is precise regarding the following points: people are naturally born with rights but must give
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The Social Contract The three philosophers‚ Thomas Hobbes‚ John Locke‚ and Jean-Jacques Rousseau were three key thinkers of political philosophy. The three men helped develop the social contract theory into what it is in this modern day and age. The social contract theory was the creation of Hobbes who created the idea of a social contract theory‚ which Locke and Rousseau built upon. Their ideas of the social contract were often influenced by the era in which they lived and social issues that
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with this scientist and the church continue to have arguments such as how the earth was created. The discussion continued for group A with the thoughts of the discussions of the different philosophers. While several people discussed how Thomas Hobbes or John Locke were the most influential philosophers I thought it was very
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Hobbes‚ Locke‚ and Rousseau each have their own theories as to what the state of nature is; however‚ essentially they are trying to describe the same state of nature. Assuming that there is only one state of nature being described in different ways‚ I will attempt to put together a theory of what the state of nature is actually like based on what Hobbes‚ Locke‚ and Rousseau each has to say about it. Moreover‚ understanding the state of nature is important for figuring out what role it played in the
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