Thomas Hobbes: A Radical Revolution

When it comes to human nature, many people like to make their own philosophies. They talk about what people think, or why they would say things. Thomas Hobbes and John Locke were two philosophers that had opposing ideals - ideals about revolutions, and how people would behave in trying to make their own governments. I will be talking about Thomas Hobbes. His belief was that people could not always get along in harmony, that they would always try and one-up each other, and people would always end up on top somehow. I believe these ideals apply more strongly to revolutions, as well as human nature in general, than Locke’s.

Thomas Hobbes was born in 1588 in England. Hobbes survived through the English Revolutionary era, and his perspective of human nature built up negatively. He believed that all men were innately bad and evil. Hobbes stated, “... yet they will hardly believe there be many so wise as themselves” (Hobbes 1). This quote shows his thought, that all men are selfish and they always think they are better than anyone. Hobbes believed that humans didn't know how to cooperate because same desire would only cause them to be an enemy. Also, Hobbes said that it was the human who limits the development due to their constant war with each other.

Hobbes and Locke both abandoned the thought of the divine right of monarchy. Both did not agree with the fact that the ruler or assembly would have all power over its citizens. So basically they were against Absolutism and their views were that of rebels in their time period. Theses two philosophers both held similar ideas but also have conflicting ideas pertaining to the citizens "social contract" with their rulers, "Natural Condition of Mankind," and sovereignty.

John Locke was an enlightenment thinker of the 18th century. He was born is a small village in Southwest England in 1632. He was the most significant enlightenment thinker because he inspired other philosopher such as Voltaire, Paine and Rousseau. Another reasons is he inspired the checks and balances and separation of power in the United States and many other countries today. Finally he inspired the basis of the Declaration of independance. John Locke was the most significant philosopher of the enlightenment Era because he believed that believed that humans were born with certain natural rights, rights of life, liberty and property. Locke believed that all people had those rights, and that they are universal.

Natural Rights (Locke) appear in the declaration of Independence as "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness". Jean Rousseau developed the idea of the social contract and the notion of replacing a government that fails to maintain consent is cited as justification for the American Revolution against the English.

Enlightenment thinkers had a huge impact on how we view, and run our government today. They contributed greatly to the influences we have in our world and even the laws we abide by in our world today. These thinkers were extremely influential to our government and how they shaped the country. The reason being, they had amazing ideas that went for the better of the people, and that was exactly the dream that they had for the U.S. We follow what they said, and thought, and put our own twist on it to make sure that it fit exactly what we wanted for our country and what we want for our country now.

Thomas Hobbes describes his views on human nature and his ideal government in Leviathan. He believes human nature is antagonistic, and condemns man to a life of violence and misery without strong government. In contrast to animals, who are able to live together in a society without a coercive power, Hobbes believes that men are unable to coexist peacefully without a greater authority because they are confrontational by nature. “In the nature of man”, Hobbes says “there are three principal causes of quarrel: first, competition; secondly, diffidence, thirdly, glory” and then he goes on to list man’s primary aims for each being gain, safety and reputation (Hobbes, Leviathan, 13, 6).

Hobbes is the founding father of modern political philosophy. Directly or indirectly, he has set the terms of debate about the fundamentals of political life right into our own times. Few have liked his thesis, that the problems of political life mean that a society should accept an unaccountable sovereign as its sole political authority.

Thomas Hobbes wrote during the time of the English Civil War and these events were heavily reflected within his writing. This time demonstrated a tremendous amount of political instability within the state and the violent war caused tension and unrest amongst the citizens. Hobbes advocates for the need for an all-powerful sovereign in order to ensure peace and security within society. Hobbes argues that humans were naturally drawn into a state of war and the only way to escape this conflict was if humans entered into a social contract in which they traded their individual liberties in exchange for protection from a higher political power of authority. For Hobbes sovereignty is best achieved when humans, “owe under the immortal God, [their] peace and defence” (Hobbes, 332). According to Hobbes when humans sacrifice their personal liberty they are avoiding the fear of violent death and instead would be able to live a peaceful life. Hobbes states that in the natural state of war humans seek to destroy one another, “ if any two men desire the same thing, which nevertheless they cannot both enjoy, they become enemies; and in the way to their end… endeavour to destroy, or subdue one another” (319). It is essential to enter into a social contract because without a constant source of political authority in their life, human life would result in chaos. In an attempt to avoid the violent wars that result in the state of nature and in order to escape violent death that he

Thomas Hobbes and Jean-Jacques Rousseau have very different views on the social contract largely based on their fundamental views of the state of nature in humanity. These basic views of natural human nature cause Hobbes and Rousseau to have views on opposite sides of the spectrum, based on two controversial speculations, that human is inherently good or that human is inherently inclined towards egotism and perpetual insecurity. Due to his belief that they are of this nature, Hobbes viewed an all-powerful sovereign of a rather totalarianistic nature to be necessary. Rousseau on the other hand, viewed that the sovereign should represent the common will of the people, the sovereign being agreed upon by all constituents. It is my assertion

Hobbes account of natural law derives from the idea that the inclination to strive for peace even if that means engaging in war to obtain it. Not only that, Hobbes believes that the best way to achieve peace is if authority rules over the people, who will strive to protect those who can't protect themselves. This Hobbesian theory of natural law is stemmed from the reason that man must be withheld to find there designated end. On the other hand. St.Thomas utilizes his understanding of God to say that the natural inclination of humans to achieve their proper end though reason and free will is natural which was supplied by God. In addition to that, St.Thomas says that humans partake in the eternal law of God by using reason in conformity with the natural law to discern what is good and evil. In terms of ethical scale,

Philosophy allows humans to open their minds and think deeper into the world. The mind is vast and immeasurable, and the study of philosophy allows us to use it to its full potential by thinking philosophically. Many great philosophers have come up with different revolutionary ideas that has shaped individuals as well as societies. Their ideas have given impact to perspective socially, politically and economically. Some of the most noted philosophers are Thomas Hobbes, René Descartes and Immanuel Kant.

The ideas from the Enlightenment and its thinkers greatly influenced the world today, everything from our ideas of modern government to our view of everyday life. Important Enlightenment philosophes such as Locke, Montesquieu, Hobbes and Voltaire established controversial ideas and theories on human nature, natural rights, and how government should be run and which form of it was superior. These ideas were all never even thought of before, and shattered many of the previous notions of ideas, such as ideas of how to run government, that had already been established and taken as a standard for several hundreds of years.

With these three authors, they all have the same opinion on the social contract. Thomas Hobbes, James Madison, and Plato all believed that having an absolute sovereign is what will make a society the most successful. This paper seeks to point out the distinct visons of absolute sovereignty that Hobbes, Madison, and Plato articulated by unpacking the central premises of each argument, pitting them against each other through comparing and contrasting.

The Enlightenment era was a heavy influence on the French Revolution to find ways to govern people in society after the absolute monarchy of King Louis XVI. The beliefs of the Enlightenment, including Locke’s “natural rights”, Voltaire’s free society; and Rousseau’s social contract and general will, ultimately swayed ideas towards to understanding aspects of life and