True Human Nature: ITALIC TITLES
Human nature is how humans act when there are no outside forces pushing them to act a certain way and it is over true essence of human nature that has been the subject of debate among many thinkers. Specifically, many political philosophers have discussed human nature in their books as it is essential to the development of an ideal republic. Thomas Hobbes in his book, Levithan, and John Locke in his second treatise in his book, Two Treatises on Government, both talk extensively about human nature in very different ways. Hobbes argues that human nature is so evil that the the state of nature is really just a perpetual state of war in which people act based on their passions alone which ends up forcing people …show more content…
The perpetual state of war that defines Hobbes’ state of nature means that people are constantly consumed by a “Fear of Death” which pushed people towards signing a contract (Hobbes, 71). Hobbes does not have a grandiose idea on why mankind should enter a contract rather man needs to do it to avoid dying. For this same reason, Hobbes also calls his contract, a covenant as the covenant is a permanent agreement man signs onto for returning to the state of nature would mean certain death. Consequently, this also means that people can only legally leave the covenant if the sovereign wrongs them (Hobbes, 96). Yet the only way the sovereign can, based on the covenant, wrong his subject is by not protecting them from death. So as long as the sovereign does not directly threaten the lives of his subjects, people are constrained to the covenant. Opposingly, Locke argues that the state of nature is livable as long as people use their universal reason. However, people find themselves turning to a contract in order to escape the three major inconveniences of the state of nature. The first being self-love which restricts a person 's ability to use universal reason when judging offenses against them and their friends (Locke, 275). Secondly, the invention of money leads to the destruction of natural moderation and the natural and fair distribution of property while it also leads to the third inconvenience of spoilage which is ridiculous since everything should be precious in nature (Locke, 300). These inconveniences, caused by human nature, destroy the natural balance in the state of nature and make living less comfortable by creating inequality and injustice. In turn, humans turn to the contract as the civil government it creates“is the proper remedy for the inconveniences of the state of nature” (Locke, 276). The civil
Human nature is how humans act when there are no outside forces pushing them to act a certain way and it is over true essence of human nature that has been the subject of debate among many thinkers. Specifically, many political philosophers have discussed human nature in their books as it is essential to the development of an ideal republic. Thomas Hobbes in his book, Levithan, and John Locke in his second treatise in his book, Two Treatises on Government, both talk extensively about human nature in very different ways. Hobbes argues that human nature is so evil that the the state of nature is really just a perpetual state of war in which people act based on their passions alone which ends up forcing people …show more content…
The perpetual state of war that defines Hobbes’ state of nature means that people are constantly consumed by a “Fear of Death” which pushed people towards signing a contract (Hobbes, 71). Hobbes does not have a grandiose idea on why mankind should enter a contract rather man needs to do it to avoid dying. For this same reason, Hobbes also calls his contract, a covenant as the covenant is a permanent agreement man signs onto for returning to the state of nature would mean certain death. Consequently, this also means that people can only legally leave the covenant if the sovereign wrongs them (Hobbes, 96). Yet the only way the sovereign can, based on the covenant, wrong his subject is by not protecting them from death. So as long as the sovereign does not directly threaten the lives of his subjects, people are constrained to the covenant. Opposingly, Locke argues that the state of nature is livable as long as people use their universal reason. However, people find themselves turning to a contract in order to escape the three major inconveniences of the state of nature. The first being self-love which restricts a person 's ability to use universal reason when judging offenses against them and their friends (Locke, 275). Secondly, the invention of money leads to the destruction of natural moderation and the natural and fair distribution of property while it also leads to the third inconvenience of spoilage which is ridiculous since everything should be precious in nature (Locke, 300). These inconveniences, caused by human nature, destroy the natural balance in the state of nature and make living less comfortable by creating inequality and injustice. In turn, humans turn to the contract as the civil government it creates“is the proper remedy for the inconveniences of the state of nature” (Locke, 276). The civil