contrasting the ideas of John Locke and Thomas Hobbes

COMPARISON OF HOBBES ' AND LOCKE 'S POLITICAL PHILOSOPHIES

Thomas Hobbes and John Locke are both contemporary philosophers who were made famous for their political philosophies especially on areas of government and the community . Although Hobbes was born forty one years ahead of Locke , both have agreed on certain ideas but remained in contrast with others . In this we will try to compare the main philosophies held by Hobbes and Locke , focusing on their opinions on government , community , leadership and the concept of social contract or covenant . This will also attempt to align

the said philosophies in contemporary events particularly in the American life after September 11 attack . At the end of this , this author aims to establish the fact that Locke 's political philosophies are more practical , consistent and acceptable over that of Hobbes

Hobbes and Locke are particularly interested in human beings and how they interact with the world . Both believing in the existence of God they both insist that human beings need a leader- a feature of human community that is a vital element of their survival . 1 Without a leader , the country would fall away into nothing . They however differ on the type of leader that a community should have in to survive For Hobbes , there 's only one man that should rule or govern the people and that is a king (Hobbes , Thomas 1994 ,

.83 . Hobbes maintains that it is only this king who should be given the authority and the responsibility to write laws , make decision and consequently of controlling the people . In for people to survive , people are therefore compelled to obey the commands of the ruler , both in religious and government matters

Locke however believes the other way around . For John Locke , it is rather the people who should run the government and not the king Consequently , Locke points to the idea that the responsibility of uniting and taking care of the needs of the whole community lies in the hands of the people and not on the sole control of one person . Unlike Hobbes , Locke somehow points to a democratic form of government wherein the people are given the right to participate in all affairs of the government including the responsibility of deciding what is best for the general public . Locke also suggests that the people should rather have to decide on who they wanted to rule over them . Moreover , since the power lies on the people , they have the right to overthrow a wicked ruler in the same way as they have decided to have him seated in the position (Locke , John 1997 ,

.22

Because Hobbes maintains authoritarian form of government , he insists that 1 society could not exist except by the power of the state . This is directly contrary to Locke 's view that man is inherently a social being and thus has the need and the ability to interact with others Hobbes idea then simply would suggest that man is necessarily a creature that...