As a political scientist one of the most important questions to ask is‚ “What should the aim of government in society be and why?” To answer this question I will examine the perspectives of three philosophers‚ Thomas Aquinas‚ Thomas Hobbes‚ and John Locke‚ in regards to their views on government’s role and obligation in a society. To understand and define the aim of government in society the best form of government must first be defined. The best form of government will be defined using Plato’s teaching’s
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John Locke vs. Thomas Hobbes The new ways of thinking developed during the scientific revolution began to extend into other areas of life beyond that of just science. Scholars and philosophers began to rethink the old ideas about religion‚ economics‚ and education. The Enlightenment started from key ideas put forth by two English political thinkers of the 1600s‚ Thomas Hobbes and John Locke. Both men experienced hardships England early in that century in the English civil war but they ended up getting
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responsibilities" (The subjection of the Women‚ Sources‚ 199). John Stuart Mill anticipates to the modern liberalism if we analyze his book "On Liberty" in which he explains that government have to have power over the community to guaranty the liberty of the community. "Power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community against his will to prevent harm to others"(On Liberty‚ sources 139). So‚ we can see in this point how John Stuart Mill begins thinking as a modern liberalism‚ seeing as
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In his short essay‚ On Liberty‚ John Stuart Mill advocates for the preservation of individual liberty and for a lack of governmental involvement in the regulation in the idea of thoughts and ideas. Mill does this by first discussing when it is appropriate for a government to limit the liberties of its people‚ and then by discussing why it is important that governments generally preserve the sense of liberty experienced by the governed. Mill’s idea that individual liberties should be protected is
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spectrum of the choice. The question that comes into factor is what would Immanuel Kant‚ John Stuart Mill‚ and Peter Singer do if they were faced with a choice that involved children and their well being what they would advise me to do in the situation. In the paper I will explain how Immanuel Kant is a great philosopher and also explain how he would want me to consider the situation‚ and I will also compare John Mill and Peter Singer to discuss their similarities and how the idea of Utilitarianism would
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Charity contributions Philosopher and political economist‚ John Stuart Mill‚ first coined the term “economic man” in the 19th century and went on to describe Man as a “being who inevitably does that by which he may obtain the greatest amount of necessaries‚ conveniences and luxuries‚ with the smallest quantity of labour and physical self-denial.” Not only evident in economic theory‚ the concept that human beings will always choose to get ahead in order to survive and propagate‚ even at the expense
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The Philosophies of Enlightenment: Compare and contrast views of John Locke and Thomas Hobbes The Enlightenment‚ also named the Age of reason‚ was an era for the period of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The term “Enlightenment” also specifically talks about a rational movement. Moreover‚ this movement provided a basis for the American and French Revolutions. During this period‚ philosophers started to realize that by using reason they can find answers to their questions and solutions
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individual born with certain thoughts and opinions? Between the 16th and 18th centuries‚ many people began to think about these questions. In 1651‚ an English political philosopher named Thomas Hobbes published a book on the nature of man‚ titled The Leviathan. Four decades later‚ another English thinker named John Locke published his theories about mankind in its natural state‚ titled Second Treatise of Civil Government. Locke’s and Hobbes’s controversial writings about mankind sparked a new era of
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Thomas Hobbes was an English philosopher who was lived from 1588-1679. He attended Oxford University where he studied classics. His occupation was a tutor‚ but he also traveled around Europe to meet with scientists and to study different forms of government. He became interested in why people allowed themselves to be ruled‚ and what would be the best form of government for England. Thomas Hobbes was the first great figure in modern moral philosophy. Hobbes had a pessimistic view of people; he
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Thomas Hobbes and the Social Contract When analyzing the modern social contract theorists‚ one must take into account the conditions that the philosopher was living in while devising his social contract. Each theorist: Jean-Jacques Rousseau‚ John Locke and Thomas Hobbes all have the same idea but each has his theory rooted in very different beliefs. Rousseau formulated his theory in the middle of the French Enlightenment and the same theory breathed life into the intellectual basis for the French
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