What Is The Difference Between John Locke And Rousseau

In the comparison of Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, and Jean Jacques Rousseau and their respective ideas of The Social Contract I would like to begin by breaking down what the Social Contract is and all its encompassing ideas. The concept of social contract theory is that before civilization man lived in the state of nature in its purest form. There was no central body of governance and no law to regulate society. This meant there were hardships and oppression on certain sections of the society because they had nobody fighting for them. To overcome from these hardships people entered into agreements known as “social contracts”. In some pacts people sought protection of their lives and property, and as a result of this a society was formed where …show more content…
All forms of social contract theory ultimately come down to one idea, that being that the individual desire for security and safety, demands fulfillment through a collective agreement. This collective agreement transforms the unaltered human state from the natural, primal state into an organized society.
Beginning with Thomas Hobbes, with perhaps the most pessimistic view on the social contract and why it came about. According to Hobbes prior to Social Contract, man lived in the State of Nature. Man’s life in the State of nature was one of fear and selfishness, a chaotic condition of constant fear. Life in the State of Nature was describes by Hobbes as being ‘solitary’, ‘poor’, ‘nasty’, ‘brutish’, and ‘short’. Hobbes also believed humans have a natural desire for security and order. And in order to secure self-protection and to avoid misery and pain, societies began entering into contracts. These ideas of self-defense are inherent to human nature and in order to achieve this people would voluntarily surrender their rights and freedoms to a Leviathan via contract who would command obedience. This led