John Locke was a political philosopher that wrote an important treatise concerning the role of government. Thomas Hobbes was a British philosopher of the 17th century also known for his philosophical writings, one of his most famous writings the Leviathan, which questions the existence of government and discusses his theories about how men behave with government and without, and why it is important to have a state of sovereignty. Being philosophical writers both in the same time era, they often had different perspectives. One aspect they both agreed on is that they believed that there had to be some kind of government in place so that people would behave. “They have all argued that outside of civilized society, i.e. in a “state of nature,”
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According to Thomas Hobbes the life of man is poor, solitary, nasty, brutish, and short (85). This means that without government humans wouldn’t leave a peaceful life and would be in conditions of war with every man against every man. According to Messier, Hobbes believes that men in a state of nature are equal but because there are limited resources in nature, problems arise because men are driven by their passions and appetites. (p35). In contrast John Locke Argues that men are naturally in a state of perfect freedom to order their actions, and dispose of their possessions and persons as they think fit. He states that all men or equal, no one having more than another (26). They both agree that men are equal. One can infer that Locke had a more positive view on man’s state of nature. Although they had opposing viewpoints on the state of nature they also disagreed on the form of government they thought should be in place. Many of Thomas Hobbes theories were based off of the English Revolution, which was brutal. That time of chaos led Hobbes to believe that an absolute monarch was the ideal form of government. Messier Illustrates, that In Hobbes theory of sovereignty, the sovereign holds absolute power over the subjects that are bound to obey him under the laws he establishes and enforces, a right granted to him by the establishment of the common wealth
According to Thomas Hobbes the life of man is poor, solitary, nasty, brutish, and short (85). This means that without government humans wouldn’t leave a peaceful life and would be in conditions of war with every man against every man. According to Messier, Hobbes believes that men in a state of nature are equal but because there are limited resources in nature, problems arise because men are driven by their passions and appetites. (p35). In contrast John Locke Argues that men are naturally in a state of perfect freedom to order their actions, and dispose of their possessions and persons as they think fit. He states that all men or equal, no one having more than another (26). They both agree that men are equal. One can infer that Locke had a more positive view on man’s state of nature. Although they had opposing viewpoints on the state of nature they also disagreed on the form of government they thought should be in place. Many of Thomas Hobbes theories were based off of the English Revolution, which was brutal. That time of chaos led Hobbes to believe that an absolute monarch was the ideal form of government. Messier Illustrates, that In Hobbes theory of sovereignty, the sovereign holds absolute power over the subjects that are bound to obey him under the laws he establishes and enforces, a right granted to him by the establishment of the common wealth