Immanuel Kant And Thomas Hobbes's Views On Human Nature?

Improved Essays
Immanuel Kant and Thomas Hobbes have different views on human nature. leading to what the government should do to overcome this lazy and aggressive behaviour. Kant is a philosopher from the 1700s who believed in people becoming enlightened. “Enlightenment is man 's emergence from his self- imposed immaturity” (Garside, Lecture: Kant 2014). Enlightenment causes people to question themselves and others which can also lead to becoming independent within society. Hobbes was a philosopher in the early 1600s, and wanted to provide a safe and secure place for people to live as long as possible (Garside, Lecture: Hobbes 2014). Both Kant and Hobbes believed that society is continually threated. However, Kant would view human nature as harmful, …show more content…
Hobbes raises many positive points that would make me choose to have lifelong security, but a life without freedom is not a place anyone wants to live in. Human nature will always be present and threatening society. therefore, you can never get rid of it all. People are attempting to overcome this natural lazy behaviour, but in today’s world (TRY –IN CONTEMPORARY SOCIETY-), we are still not always safe and the limitations are(OUR) government is presenting are still there. Bradley Manning tried to speak up about what the government is doing and was put in jail. The big debate was essentially between Kant and Hobbes’ theories, is there freedom of speaking out and being enlightened, or was it a threat that could put many lives at risk? Hobbes talks about the government being the only one in power and you cannot question it(TOTALITARIAN). If the government begins to break the laws nothing happens to them – there is no punishment. Even though Hobbes says we can vote for who we want to run the country, we need to be able to have a system that can best represent all the people and if the government breaks any laws, they are held accountable.(RUN ON SENTENCE) I think Kant’s use of freedom is key to enlightenment. Without freedom no one can be enlightened and thus, many people would be living a unhappy life. Why extend your life with …show more content…
The differences between the use of freedom or no freedom depends what is more important, safety or living an enlightened life. The limitations the government put on its people needs to be balanced properly from security to ensuring the rights of its citizens. Hobbes’ natural laws provide a tough punishment system while Kant may find a tough punishment is to take away someone’s freedom. Human nature is a strong power in everyone and is always a threat to the rest of society. Kant’s ‘what is enlightenment’ and Hobbes’ rational view on the right to live offer a large spectrum of how social view change in society. Immanuel Kant and Thomas Hobbes have different views on human nature leading to what the government should do to overcome this lazy and aggressive

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    The founders of the Declaration of Independence sought to create a government that would be formed from the ideas and concepts that they had encountered through their various readings and studies. John Locke and Thomas Hobbes are by far the most influential thinkers of the Constitution and continue to affect American thought even today. Many of John Locke’s ideas directly correlate with those included in the Declaration of Independence yet they are reworded to suit the needs of the new government.…

    • 1238 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Some people believe that complete freedom will bring chaos to individuals because humans need some sort of leadership, and some believe that freedom brings only opportunities to show how great some people truly are. These two contrasting views on freedom are explained through the philosophical texts and views of Martin Luther King Jr and Thomas Hobbes. Martin Luther King Jr enlightened the entire world with his views in Love, Law and Civil Disobedience and Thomas Hobbes showed the world a new side of political philosophy with his work in Leviathan. In both of these works one can see the contrasting views on freedom and can judge what influenced these views based on the time period that these philosophers lived.…

    • 1218 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Meng Tzu Case Study

    • 716 Words
    • 3 Pages

    4) What does Meng tzu mean by “a heart sensitive to the suffering of others?” Why does he claim that this defines our humanity, and why does it need to be developed if we are to be ethical or truly humane? What are the other three “seeds” which make up the “sensitive heart,” and how do they become developed? Why is the development of each a necessary part of humaneness?…

    • 716 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    European philosophers as early as the seventeenth century begin debating how to run government. As different forms of democracy come about, wars breakout amongst European nations. Ideas on human nature and how man runs government spread throughout the world, determining for years the ways of society. The first philosopher, Thomas Hobbes, promotes the strict monarchy of commonwealth, the second, John Locke, promotes the liberal monarchy, and the last, Jean-Jacques Rousseau promotes liberal republicanism. Thomas Hobbes, an English philosopher, born in 1588 of Malmesbury, is most known for his work in modern political philosophy.…

    • 1160 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Chapter 22: Enlightenment and Revolution Assessment –Research Worksheet Directions: Completion of this worksheet is a required part of your assessment for this unit. Please type into this document and email it to your teacher in the same email as the Facebook profile. Thomas Hobbes Where was he born? Thomas Hobbes was born in Westport, in 5th April 1588.…

    • 1789 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Hobbes vs Locke They agree on the state of nature for the state of mankind before goverment. When they have to decide on divine right or the social contract and they both chose social contract. They both agree on alot of things but they disagred on some things too.…

    • 84 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    From 1650 to 1800, European philosophers started to think differently about old ideas of government, economics, and religion; this led to a period known as the Enlightenment. The intellectuals of this era were called philosophes, and they believed that everyone is born with natural rights. However, many philosophes had different ideas on what to do with these freedoms and how to distribute power. Locke, Hobbes, Rousseau, and Voltaire were all philosophes with different main ideas. John Locked believed that power comes from the people.…

    • 490 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Monique Wilder Professor David Hill SSP 101.7920 July 15, 2015 Midterm 1) Explain the main differences and similarities between the ideas of Hobbes and Locke’s. Similarities include: rights, state of nature, atheism, powers of a sovereign, and the idea that governments are beneficial. John Locke and Thomas Hobbes are two social contract theorist who share similarities in their Social Contract Theories, however they both have differences. The social contract theory is a voluntary agreement among individuals by which organized society is brought into being and invested with the right to secure mutual protection and welfare or to regulate the relations among its members.…

    • 908 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Hobbes and Locke are both social contract theorists who have influenced many citizens of this country. To begin, they both start out talking about human nature. Locke and Hobbes had very different views regarding human nature. Locke claimed human nature as reason and Hobbes claimed it as power and appetite. Locke believes that reason is the primary attribute of human nature.…

    • 706 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Hobbes Vs Kant On Morality

    • 1409 Words
    • 6 Pages

    This essay is solely based on the German philosopher Kant Immanuel and British philosopher Thomas Hobbes in relation to their study on morals. Both philosophers have their own understanding on the topic of morality in which both perceive ideas in their own way. Kant leans toward more of a rationalistic view of morality, emphasizing the mandatory need to ground the prior principle. Meanwhile, Hobbes has taken more of an empirical view of the fact that we ought to do what we believe in is in relation to self interest but both occur in order to take a subjective point. In other words, they viewed the issue of morality from a person-centered approach.…

    • 1409 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    One argument that has prevailed throughout time and knowledge is the conflict between nature and nurture. This argument proposes that humans are either products of their genes and inherited traits, or of their environment and social relationships. Although many recognize that both nature and nurture play a role in humankind, this conflict still poses an issue till this day (Moore, 2001). This problem was brought to light during the eighteenth-century, also known as the Age of Enlightenment or Age of Reason. As this period promoted an increase of a well-educated society that emphasized reason, people began to investigate human behavior.…

    • 1347 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Starting off, they each had a distinctive understanding of human nature from one another. To Rousseau, humans in primitive times were "noble savages" and it is "civilization" that turned man into a "beast". Conversely, Hobbes believed that being "civilized" is a positive trait and being uncivilized or a "savage" is bad. Concerning human nature, Rousseau theorized that humans were innately good and generous, before being corrupted by the vices of civilization. Human life was most likely peaceful and compassionate as described in his opening line, “Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains.”…

    • 1051 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    This is a paper comparing the Aristotle and Hobbes understandings of human nature. Aristotle states that man is a “political animal”, and that it is thus natural for man to live in a polis. Hobbes disagrees with this understanding of man a political animal, as he claims that man is actually a greedy being that is driven by power. Thus he feels that the natural state of man is a state of war. Although the two disagree initially about the man’s natural state, Aristotle comes to agree with Hobbes’ view since they agree that without a common sense of justice that individuals have no reason to live together.…

    • 950 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Introduction ‘During and after the English Revolution (1642-88), different English thinkers reacted differently toward the revolution, based on their own life experience and philosophical outlook’. Thomas Hobbes and John Locke strongly argued distinct notions of political power. One absolute kinship, the other a democratic republic. In this essay it will firstly state and discuss the relation between state and sovereign according to Thomas Hobbes. In doing so Thomas Hobbes ideas will then be compared to John Locke’s.…

    • 2054 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Great Essays

    Many people specifically philosophers would question, “Why we need a state?” or “What kind of state should we have?” This question opened up all the different views and perspective of the three following philosophers, Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau. They all have different but also very similar views on the state of nature, social contract, laws. Hobbes definition of state of nature is a state of war. Morality doesn’t exists and everyone lives in constant fear.…

    • 1796 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Great Essays