Hobbes and Locke are two popular political theorists in the field of political philosophy. They authored their respective books during times of revolution, however how they felt about said revolutions differed greatly. Hobbes believed that a ruler should have absolute authority, and that the people never had the right to rebel. Locke on the other hand, held the belief that reverberates today that when the people are being an injustice and they have exhausted all means, that they have the right to rebel and abolish the government ruling them. They both agree on the foundation of man entering a social contract in society, the Social Contract Theory. After that however, they mostly just differ on their views in Thomas Hobbes’ Leviathan, and John
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He felt that the power the government has should be absolute, without question and too powerful to defy. His book Leviathan, laid out his views on how, much like the Biblical Leviathan, a ruler must be so strong and big that he strikes fear in anyone who dares oppose it. The ruler must be so mighty that all who oppose him will be crushed. Why would someone support a government so absolute? For Thomas Hobbes, the reason was that he perceived man to be at war with all in a state of nature; how man was before government as: "No arts; no letters; no society; and which is worst of all, continual fear, and danger of violent death: and the life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short." (Leviathan). Hobbes believed that man was inherently a threat to one another without an authority over him. Only through fear and absolute authority ruling him could society and man …show more content…
To him, without an overarching authority a man would kill you for an apple because the lack of fear of repercussion. High crime rates in areas of low policing seem to reinforce his position even in our modern time. Hobbes proposes a question to those who disagree with his view on human nature by asking the question “Why do you lock your doors at night?” Although I disagree with man being barbaric and homicidal by nature, this question does make me rethink my position granting insight into a position previously considered absurd. Hobbes believes the only way man can live peaceably with one another is with the fear of the Leviathan coming down and striking, because nothing can defy its
He felt that the power the government has should be absolute, without question and too powerful to defy. His book Leviathan, laid out his views on how, much like the Biblical Leviathan, a ruler must be so strong and big that he strikes fear in anyone who dares oppose it. The ruler must be so mighty that all who oppose him will be crushed. Why would someone support a government so absolute? For Thomas Hobbes, the reason was that he perceived man to be at war with all in a state of nature; how man was before government as: "No arts; no letters; no society; and which is worst of all, continual fear, and danger of violent death: and the life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short." (Leviathan). Hobbes believed that man was inherently a threat to one another without an authority over him. Only through fear and absolute authority ruling him could society and man …show more content…
To him, without an overarching authority a man would kill you for an apple because the lack of fear of repercussion. High crime rates in areas of low policing seem to reinforce his position even in our modern time. Hobbes proposes a question to those who disagree with his view on human nature by asking the question “Why do you lock your doors at night?” Although I disagree with man being barbaric and homicidal by nature, this question does make me rethink my position granting insight into a position previously considered absurd. Hobbes believes the only way man can live peaceably with one another is with the fear of the Leviathan coming down and striking, because nothing can defy its