Locke vs. Hobbes

JOHN LOCKE AND THOMAS HOBBES : FIRST POLITICAL DEBATE

2006

What is politics ? Merriam-Webster dictionary defines it as the complex of

relations between people living in society ' This phrase is the root of all politics and all

government . Whether we are ruler or subject , in the end we are all just people ' And how can

people ' best relate to each other ? Over the years , countless individuals believed that they

possessed the magic answer to this age-old question . Two figures in particular have endured the

praise and the criticisms : Thomas Hobbes

and John Locke . Each man represents a philosophy

that has marked him in history and in the popular consciousness . And each man offers his

unique commentary - along with some surprising commonalities - on this abstract word we call

politics

How should an affective government approach its duties and functions John Locke and Thomas Hobbes did hold some similar viewpoints on government 's responsibilities . Both men favored a social contract between government and its people (Baker , 2000 . Hobbes stated in Leviathan , Whensoever a man transferreth his right , or renounceth it it is either in consideration of some right reciprocally transferred to himself , or for some other good he hopeth for thereby ' In other words , a man must be willing to sacrifice some of his basic rights in exchange for a promise of security and stability from his government Ever since Moses and Biblical times , Hobbes points out , Man has operated on a contract system (Panagia , 2003 . Likewise , John Locke also advocated this precursor to federalism (Baker , 2000 : men , when they enter into society give up . liberty of a kind yet it being only with an intention in every one the better to preserve himself , his liberty and property (Locke , 2001 ) Locke believed that entering into such a covenant with government officials would best serve a common good and serve to create a common law ' - ideals which were also shared by Hobbes (Baker , 2000 . Hobbes himself claimed that the point of the social contract is to orchestrate a multitude into some recognizable whole (Hobbes , 1968 . The government was dependent on the support of the people , and its legitimacy .stable only as long as the public continues to recommend it (Hobbes , 1968

Once the function of a government is determined , the next question becomes , Who is the

government ' On this point , Hobbes and Locke part ways . Since Hobbes held that human beings were essentially born bad ' then logic would follow that they are not fit to rule themselves . Instead , they need an overarching power to awe them .likened to a sea monster , or a leviathan (Geib , 2002 . Hobbes argued for a single-person leadership by claiming that multiple voices of authority created too much diffidence (or difference . Such confusion would inevitably plunge mankind back into a primitive state of warfare , the very condition it sought to eradicate through laws and government (Kreis , 2005 : for powers divided mutually destroy each other (Hobbes , 1968 . Hobbes had witnessed firsthand the conflicts between the English king and Parliament , which...