A POSSIBLE EXPLANATION WHY JOHN LOCKE IS SUCH AN AGGRESSIVE CRITIQUE OF THOMAS HOBBES’ LEVIATHAN IDEA Introduction Writing in the 1650’s‚ Thomas Hobbes sought to address the prevalent problem of war by seeking to obtain those rational principles that will aid the construction of a “civil polity that will not be subject to destruction from within. ” Hobbes employs the idea of a “social contract” to resolve that seemingly intractable problem of war and disorder. He begins by imagining how people
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Essay Question Compare Hobbes’ and Rousseau’s assumptions about human nature. In each case what follows from these assumptions? Who do you agree with‚ and why? Throughout history‚ many philosophers have discussed the term ‘state of nature’ which is used to describe the natural condition of mankind either in the absence of a common authority or the lack of laws. In the book The Leviathan‚ Thomas Hobbes one of most important political philosopher‚ examines the state of
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Hobbes’ Leviathan and Locke’s Second Treatise of Government comprise critical works in the lexicon of political science theory. Both works expound on the origins and purpose of civil society and government. Hobbes’ and Locke’s writings center on the definition of the "state of nature" and the best means by which a society develops a systemic format from this beginning. The authors hold opposing views as to how man fits into the state of nature and the means by which a government should be formed
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Locke and Hobbes were both social contract theorists‚ and both natural law theorists (Natural law in the sense of Saint Thomas Aquinas‚ not Natural law in the sense of Newton)‚ but there the resemblance ends. All other natural law theorists assumed that man was by nature a social animal. Hobbes assumed otherwise‚ thus his conclusions are strikingly different from those of other natural law theorists. In addition to his unconventional conclusions about natural law‚ Hobbes was fairly infamous for
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Looking to the science of the day‚ Hobbes determined that there was no soul and attempted to describe human nature as pure mechanics. Human nature was therefore driven by the need to satisfy the physical demands of the body and based on basic passions in life. These are to satisfy physical appetites‚ to seek power to maintain their wealth and to be superior to others by seeking glory. Hobbes saw the state nature as “solitary‚ poor‚ nasty‚ brutish‚ and short." The state of nature is anarchy‚ with
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democracy have changed with the help of many philosophers. Hobbes‚ Locke‚ Montesquieu and Rousseau were four of the most important founders of the ideals of democracy. Through the Enlightenment Period‚ these thinkers began creating new ideas that would forever change the way governments are run through time. Our own American government reflects the ideas in some way or another of each of the philosophers we studied. Through new ideas‚ Hobbes‚ Locke‚ Rousseau and Montesquieu all changed the way government
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Writings from the works of the authors in question immediately display a distinct difference in their trains of thought. Hobbes and Locke take different paths but come to a similar conclusion‚ that of the necessity for the creation of civil government as authority over men‚ this is the basic bond that connects them. Their reasoning behind such a conclusion‚ though‚ begins with their differing and separate foundations. This discrepancy is notable in their discussions and separate ideologies of various
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well-built impulse for social anarchy without an outside purpose source of morality‚ according to some philosophers like Thomas Hobbes‚ the incentive is built into the social system by the very nature of our existing among each other. Question arises what if there is no contract in life? In order to fulfil some factors that cannot be exist without this contract in society as described by Hobbes are: equality in needs‚ Scarcity‚ Equality of human power‚ Limited altruism. So‚ taken collectively these factors
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from others. Your natural rights to the most basic aspects of life such as food‚ water‚ shelter‚ and the ability to live itself were much less assured. As Hobbes believed‚ all men lived in a natural state of war where “every man has the right to everything”‚ even to take the property and life of another human (Hobbes ch. XIV). For this reason‚ Hobbes thought was that only the strongest leader‚ an absolute monarch‚ could hold man back from his base instincts‚ for fear of death from that monarch’s hand
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fleshed out by the four authors we studied. St. Thomas and Locke display a world viewed through rose colored glasses. As much as people today want to believe that everyone exhibits behavior that Locke and St. Thomas consider good if they are left to their own devices with only laws to keep them in place‚ it is an unrealistic view of the world as we know it. In order for the world to run effectively‚ people have adopted a system closer to the societies Hobbes and Machiavelli described—one of safety under
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