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Comparison between Hobbes and Locke's ideas of government function

Comparison between Hobbes and Locke 's ideas of government function

Starting to compare these influential philosophers it is necessary to mention briefly their biographical information and historical background that provided the backdrop for the political theories of Thomas Hobbes and John Locke . The seventeenth century was a tumultuous time in England with both a civil war and the "Glorious Revolution " European monarchism evolved to the absolutism in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries . At the same time England was unusual in its strong parliamentary tradition

Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679 , an Englishman and early Enlightenment

br thinker , published a number of works describing his pessimistic outlook and calling for absolutist government to control the evil nature of man His most famous work is Leviathan . Leviathan rigorously argues that civil peace and social unity are best achieved by the establishment of a HYPERLINK "javascript :CharacterWindow 'http /www .sparknotes .com /philosophy /leviat han /terms /term_C .1 .html '92bcdf57ca , 500 " commonwealth through social HYPERLINK "javascript :CharacterWindow 'http /www .sparknotes .com /philosophy /leviat han /terms /term_C .2 .html '189b8a5b26 , 500 " contract . According to Kavka , Hobbes 's ideal commonwealth is ruled by a HYPERLINK "javascript :CharacterWindow 'http /www .sparknotes .com /philosophy /leviat han /terms /term_C .11 .html 'da , 500 " sovereign power responsible for protecting the security of the commonwealth and granted absolute authority to ensure the common defense (3 . In his introduction , Hobbes describes this commonwealth as an "artificial person " and as a body politic that mimics the human body . The frontispiece to the first edition of Leviathan , which Hobbes helped design , portrays the commonwealth as a gigantic human form built out of the bodies of its citizens , the sovereign as its head . Hobbes calls this figure the "Leviathan " a word derived from the Hebrew for "sea monster and the name of a monstrous sea creature appearing in the Bible the image constitutes the definitive metaphor for Hobbes 's perfect government

John Locke (1632-1704 ) is one of the most influential English political thinkers . Locke 's Second Treatise on Civil Government and other works set forth the theory that men form governments , compromising a degree of their liberty , in order that the government might protect their lives and property . The Second Treatise of Government places sovereignty into the hands of the people . Locke 's fundamental argument is that people are equal and invested with natural rights in a state of nature in which they live free from outside rule . In the state of nature , natural law governs behavior , and each person has license to execute that law against someone who wrongs them by infringing on their rights . Locke argued that a representative government was the best type because it was bound to the will of the people . He had ideas that proved important to both the Americans and the French and were used to support demands for a constitutional government , the rule of law , and the protection of rights

At present time the actuality of these political theories is obvious The question that both Hobbes and Locke set out to...

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