John Locke and Thomas Hobbes were both men of great influencers of their times. Their works both studied the transition from the state from the state of nature to government rule. But both disagreed on the method for that transition and what kind of government was best for the citizen and sustainability of the state.
Thomas Hobbes wrote that the life of man was to be “poor, nasty, brutish, and short.” Hobbes viewed Natural Law as impossible without the state. That men could not know what is their’s or not because laws are the will of the ruler at the time, they change as the ruler does. Hobbes believed that all men were born equal, but due to that, men could all compete for the same thing. From this arose a state of war, with men constantly …show more content…
In Locke’s mind, these unalienable rights are “Life, Liberty and the right to own property. “We hold these truths to be self-evident, the all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Locke’s words are in the Declaration of Independence, his ideas are the foundation of America. In his Second Treatise of Government, Locke creates his idea of an effective split in the power of government, into legislative, executive and federative. This closely resembles the current three branches of the American government, executive(The President and his staff), legislative(The Senate and House of Representatives), Judiciary(The Supreme Court and lower courts). These examples show that Locke’s words were influential and his greatest strength is that his words are hopeful. America at it’s beginning was hopeful and idealistic and this is obvious by the words they use in the documents that told the word who they were as a …show more content…
While Hobbes’ ideas can be proven from later history, Locke’s ideas are often disproved as we look at the later centuries. These ‘unalienable rights’ that Locke wrote about and Thomas Jefferson later infused into the Declaration have been taken away from many people. Even in America, a country whose pride is based in their upholding of these rights. A person’s right to life has been taken throughout American history, not just by death but by taking away a person’s ability to preserve their way of life. Whether that is by taking a person’s job, their right to travel freely(like during the time of Jim Crow laws on public transportation) or their right to raise a family safely. The right to liberty has also been taken away from many individuals throughout history. The right to liberty is the right to be free. So years after The United States of America declared the right of liberty to be inalienable, slavery still existed. It wasn’t until 2015 that same-sex marriage was legal in the United States. HOw can a country claim to have an unalienable right to liberty when many of it’s citizens don’t have basic
Thomas Hobbes wrote that the life of man was to be “poor, nasty, brutish, and short.” Hobbes viewed Natural Law as impossible without the state. That men could not know what is their’s or not because laws are the will of the ruler at the time, they change as the ruler does. Hobbes believed that all men were born equal, but due to that, men could all compete for the same thing. From this arose a state of war, with men constantly …show more content…
In Locke’s mind, these unalienable rights are “Life, Liberty and the right to own property. “We hold these truths to be self-evident, the all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Locke’s words are in the Declaration of Independence, his ideas are the foundation of America. In his Second Treatise of Government, Locke creates his idea of an effective split in the power of government, into legislative, executive and federative. This closely resembles the current three branches of the American government, executive(The President and his staff), legislative(The Senate and House of Representatives), Judiciary(The Supreme Court and lower courts). These examples show that Locke’s words were influential and his greatest strength is that his words are hopeful. America at it’s beginning was hopeful and idealistic and this is obvious by the words they use in the documents that told the word who they were as a …show more content…
While Hobbes’ ideas can be proven from later history, Locke’s ideas are often disproved as we look at the later centuries. These ‘unalienable rights’ that Locke wrote about and Thomas Jefferson later infused into the Declaration have been taken away from many people. Even in America, a country whose pride is based in their upholding of these rights. A person’s right to life has been taken throughout American history, not just by death but by taking away a person’s ability to preserve their way of life. Whether that is by taking a person’s job, their right to travel freely(like during the time of Jim Crow laws on public transportation) or their right to raise a family safely. The right to liberty has also been taken away from many individuals throughout history. The right to liberty is the right to be free. So years after The United States of America declared the right of liberty to be inalienable, slavery still existed. It wasn’t until 2015 that same-sex marriage was legal in the United States. HOw can a country claim to have an unalienable right to liberty when many of it’s citizens don’t have basic