Thomas Hobbes- Thomas Hobbes lived during the 1500’s and 1600’s. He was born on April 5, 1588 in Westport, Wiltshire, England and died on December 4, 1679. Hobbes lived in England, but in 1640 he fled to Paris because England was on the edge of civil war. He feared the criticism of Parliament and remained exiled for eleven years. Hobbes’s idea of social contract was that people had to hand over their rights to a strong ruler to escape a bleak life. He thought people acted in their own self-interest, and because of this the ruler needed complete power to keep the citizens under control. In Hobbes’s view he believed that the government they needed was an absolute monarchy, so they could impose order and demand obedience. Hobbes wrote many books such as The Elements of Law, Natural and Politic, De Corpore, De Homine, and De Cive.
John Locke- John Locke was born in Wrington, Somerset, England in August 29, 1632 and died on October 28, 1704 at the age of 72. For the majority of his life life he lived in England and went to the Westminster School, but he was exiled in Holland after King Charles II was almost assassinated. Locke returned went back to England in 1688. He put all his ideas about the social contract in his book called Two Treatises on Government. In the first treaties it talked about the Divine Rights of Kings, which was very dominant in the 1700’s. In the Second Treaties it talked about the justification of the civil government. John Locke believed that all men
Thomas Hobbes' believed that the social contract of the government and the people was that citizens should let themselves be ruled and that the ruler or assembly should have "ultimate authority." He argues that if there was no government then humans would be out of control and ultimately perish. He also stressed that government was "society's only hope for peace and security" (Fiero 98). Hobbes' ideas about the "Natural Condition of Mankind" was that humans were "selfish, greedy, and war-like" (Fiero 98). This shows that Hobbes' believed that humans needed government in order to live and flourish.
First let get a background on Mr. Locke. Growing up during the middle of the English Civil War, his views were heavily influenced by his father who fought with parliament against the Monarchy. He also studied
John Locke liked freedom, he thought that freedom was good for the government. “...(W)e must consider, what state all men are naturally in, and that is, a state of perfect freedom to order their actions, and dispose [manage] of their possessions and persons, as they think fit, within the bounds of the law of nature….” (Doc A) This states that Locke wants freedom but their comes consequences. To have this freedom men needed to create a government with a legislature and an executive. Locke’s main idea was people had rights.
Providing the 17th century world with an alternative, innovative view on philosophy, politics, economics, and education among other interrelated and important aspects of life, John Locke proved to be a person of immense impact. Born in 1632, in Wrington, England, Locke was the author of many known writings which include the Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1689), The Two Treaties of Government (1698), A Letter Concerning Toleration (1689), and Some Thoughts Concerning Education (1693) (Goldie 32). Locke’s writings represent a series of topics involving the purpose of philosophy, emergence of empiricism, and the role as well as limits of governments and churches in terms of liberty and natural rights. In a time where exposure of such
Thomas Hobbes was born on April fifth,1588 in Wiltshire, England. With his education, he began his career easily as a tutor, then philosopher, and published his most famous text 'Leviathan'. His main concern was the problem of social and political order: how human beings can live together in peace and avoid the danger and fear of civil conflict. The criteria for his social contract is that individuals should give their obedience to an "unaccountable sovereign": a person or
Hobbes believed that in nature people had to do whatever was necessary to survive and that even if living together, people were still likely to fight. His view of people was dark and most likely due to the horrors of a series of political schemes and armed conflicts he had seen during the English Civil War. He believed that a contract was necessary. Hobbes felt that people were not capable of living in a democratic society. Instead, a single dominant ruler was needed, and if everyone did their part, then the community would function smoothly. Hobbes’ theory is unlike Locke and Rousseau’s. He believed that once the people gave power to the government, the people gave up the right to that power. It would essentially be the cost of the safety the people were seeking.
John Locke was born in 1632, in Wrington, England. He studied medicine at the University of Oxford, but he eventually became the great philosopher everyone remembers him as (Connolly, n.d.). In 1688, King William III, supported by the Whigs, took the throne of England from King James II in what is known as the Glorious Revolution (UK Parliament, n.d.). Locke had a strong connection with the Whigs in England, so he wrote the Second Treatise on Government as a justification for the revolution. Throughout the Second Treatise on Government, Locke claims that an individual is born with the rights to “life, liberty, and property.” He believes that it is the governments purpose to preserve these rights with laws which favor neither the rich nor poor. In addition, these laws must be designed for “the good of the people.” Lastly, “[the government] must not raise taxes on the property of the people, without the consent of the people…” (Locke, 1688)
John Locke had many accomplishments. John Locke has public may significance writing; Essay Concerning Human Understanding in 1689, Two Treaties of Government in 1690, and Letters Concerning Toleration in 1689-1692. John Locke’s “Essay Concerning Human Understanding” defined the theory of human knowledge, identity and selfhood. In his “Two Treatises of Government” believing that the legitimacy of government relies on consent from its citizens which is given on the basis of equality. A government has the duty to protect the natural rights of its people, if they fail to protect these rights, the citizen have the right to overthrow the government. This writing shows John Locke beliefs in “life, liberty, and property.” In his “Letters Concerning Toleration,”
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).
John Locke was an English writer, and his writings were based on the events that took place during the Glorious Revolution in England in 1689, when the people of England overthrew King James II. John Locke was interestingly enough, brought up in a loyalist and Evangelical family. He was born to a very wealthy family, and received much prestige in Oxford for his connections to the higher ups. Locke presented his ideas of rebellion during the English civil war which took place in the mid-1600s, in favor of the revolts against the King’s rule in England at the time. John Locke graduated with a degree in medicine from Oxford University.
Thomas Hobbes was a firm believer of structure, he believed that people needed a ruler in order to achieve peace. In the 1640’s, Hobbes was a witness to an act of violence, he witnessed the execution of King Charles Ⅰ. After the execution, his political philosophy was shaped by the chaos. Hobbes had one major concern, his main concern was the problem of social and political order: how humans can live together in peace and avoid the danger and fear of civil conflict. In order to solve his primary concern he posed alternatives: people should give their obedience to an unfathomable sovereign. If not a “state of nature,” will oppose on the people and this will closely resemble a civil war. Due to the fact that Hobbes believed humans were selfish and aggressive naturally, it only makes sense for him to believe in a strict government. However, Hobbes thought that human beings in the state of nature, desired to obtain as much power as they can, and since there is no laws against people harming others to attain what they truly yearn, people are able to be curl towards one another to gain power. Therefore, Hobbes understood the state of nature to be a constant battle, where humans live in fear in one another. Hobbes notion was that man living in fear of one another would soon seek peace among each other, peace can only be attained by coming together as a community, as a social contact. By forming a social contract, essentially the society is allowing for a government, where the
Theoretical Framework: This study assessed the North Korea Corrupt Political System using Thomas Hobbes’ “The Natural Condition of Mankind”. Corruption is indeed a widespread and growing problem in North Korean society. It was ranked 175 out of 177 countries in Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index way back in 2013. For Thomas Hobbes’s anarchy, a man by nature is evil or corrupt, political authority is artificial.
Thomas Hobbes had a very interesting outlook on life, something that was so prevalent for centuries, a monarchy. He believed that the ideal world should fall under a monarch, an idea that is outdated in almost every nation across the globe. He was so strong on these ideas, because he believed all humans at their core are selfish creatures. Another thought that he had was that the state should have total control and order over the people, to maintain peace and to destroy the selfishness that exists in
Thomas Hobbes born in 1588, was an English political theorist who believed in Monarchy. Hobbes felt that humans, by nature were inherently selfish beings. During the English Civil war, he expressed the need for an absolute ruler. Like how a man has control over his household. To Hobbes, “without an absolute ruler people would kill each other” (Lawrence Smith Lecture). Due to humans being inherently selfish, they would risk the commonwealth of the community for themselves. This would likely cause complications in society and the social disorder. Hobbes conveyed that, “laws make people behave as civilized people” and without them, people
According to Harrington (2005) “From the appearance of his great work of political philosophy Leviathan in 1651, Thomas Hobbes has been widely characterized as a propagandist of absolutist government, a philosopher whose politics ‘are fitted only to promote tyranny’. He has rarely been considered as a thinker concerned with the preservation of liberty, but rather as one who is willing to countenance the sacrifice of liberty in the cause of security”.