Comparing Thomas Hobbes And John Locke

The ideas of Thomas Hobbes, Karl Marx, and John Locke differ both in their opinions of humanity's potential and also in their beliefs about the proper role of government, but each philosopher had a written social contract including their theories about a government’s structure which were all similar. A social contract is an agreement by which they give up their freedom for an organized society but, each scholar had a very different concept of what the social contract, people's expectations for governmental services, should include. For example, Hobbes believed that the population should entrust one person or a few people with all power in order to maximize the government’s role, but Marx believed that the population should entrust government with all power. However, this government is run by everyone not just one person or a select few. Locke, on the other hand, believed that individuals should govern themselves and government should have no power over people unless people choose to give it …show more content…
Hobbes believed in having a powerful government such as an absolute monarchy which could impose order and force obedience. Marx condemned the ideas of the utopians as unrealistic idealism and formulated a new theory called, “scientific socialism.” He basically based this on the study of science and history. Marx theorized that economics was the driving force in history. Marx despised capitalism and believed in social democracy. Locke advocated natural rights with an optimistic view on human nature. He believed they had natural rights that belonged to all humans from birth which included the rights of life, liberty, and property. Locke believed that we formed governments to protect these natural rights but the best government would have limited power and would be accepted by the citizens. Unlike Hobbes, Locke did not like the idea of absolute