Hobbes’s opinions about politics and government were far different from fellow English philosopher John Locke’s in his document Second Treatise of Government published in 1689. Locke existed during a much later period in Europe, when the Wars of Religion was over and England had established the Glorious Revolution Agreement between Dutch nobility, William and Mary, and Parliament. Due to the different time periods in which Hobbes and Locke lived, their experiences had a major effect on their opinions about government. Hobbes’ Leviathan and Locke’s Second Treatise of Government had different opinions regarding a man’s state of nature and social contract.
The Declaration of Independence and the colonists were influenced by many philosophers in multiple ways. The king also influenced the colonists yet he didn’t have any speech close to speak the mind of the colonists such as the philosophers did. The words that were presented on paper from just a person’s thoughts sent a lot of messages in the 1700’s. Multiple of these thoughts on paper mostly had an effect on opinions. Thomas Hobbes, a philosopher known for his original perspective on the world, was one of the few who impacted the colonists.
Hobbes believed that without a strong government, people experience continual fear and danger of violent death and lives that are solitary, poor, brutish, and short.” This quote is important because many people who are not ruled usually lead to destruction and mayhem. According to hobbes “appointing a diverse group of representatives to present the problems of the common people to the leviathan. These representatives would only have the power to present opinions, since all final decisions would be made by the leviathan.” i imagine that hobbes presumes that the citizens will take advantage of anyone who is seen as a “good” person, this idea can provide the people with a voice and still be able to make the right
Page 2 of 2 Graded AssignmentResearch Paper Final Draft(200 points)Type your draft here. Elora CopleyMs. FrischEnglish 113/10/18Foreign influence on The Declaration of IndependenceThe ideas surrounding government in our Declaration of Independence had multiple outside influences stretching from english and french philosophers to historical documents. English philosopher Thomas Hobbes’s ideas, laid out the basis as to why we need a declaration of independence, and why we need to have a government set in place. Hobbes said in his book LETHIAN, that people were incapable of ruling themselves primarily because, “humans are naturally self-centered and quarrelsome and need the iron fist of a strong leader.”
His negative and pessimistic point of view on humanity led him to draft this version of the social contract. Hobbes, who lived in the United Kingdom, under the rule of a monarch, affected the government of this time by introducing this idea. His social contract defied a democracy, and favored a monarchy. The monarchs and rulers of his time approved of his draft, whereas rulers later on who believed in a democracy strongly disagreed with this
There is no government, no authority whatsoever. Every being is born equal and share the right to do anything for their survival. His political theory was based off his idea that all humans are naturally evil and selfish. Hobbes said that this equality leads to war. “...a war of every man against every man.”
Hobbes and locke were two philosophers who two different ideas on the world and human behavior as a whole. Hobbes mainly believed that without any form of government people will always be trying to fight for power. On the other hand, Locke believed everyone is born peaceful but can be corrupted by society. Hobbes and Locke both had very different views on different human nature, the purpose of government, and both had a big influence on many different countries.
One his theories, stated in his book called Leviathan said that people are not able rule themselves because of how selfish mankind is and they need to be ruled by an iron fist. His political theory was that was also stated in Leviathan was that we should respect government authority under all circumstances to avoid violence. Hobbes was scared of the outcome of the social contract which meant people could get rid of the government if they were unhappy with what they were getting. In order to make well with the social contract he states in Leviathan that people should be completely obedient to the government. His reasoning was that if there was no government, there would be chaos.
Thomas Hobbes despite his good looks, he surprisingly spooked the world with his views. Thomas Hobbes believed in total monarchy just like the many dictators we had in history. As you know it all resulted in wars and chaos. Thomas Hobbes believed that humans were crazy people and which needed to be ruled by a king or queen.(Leviathan) He wrote numerous books, one book which was certainly the best out of his collection was leviathan.
Thomas Hobbes He liked to study various types of government. He thought that the government of a monarchy was better than democracy because he had no doubt that they were naturally wicked and were not to be trusted to govern. He believed that it was better to have a governor like a king that would know how to act like a leader and rule a country.
Philosophers have shaped the way in which we look at how societies function to better understand the universe. Niccolo Machiavelli and Thomas Hobbes are considered to be two of the most influential philosophers in history that have guided the way of thinking about human nature. Machiavelli is most famous for “The prince,” which praised and hoped to persuade rulers to enforce a republican government. Hobbes is best known for his work “leviathan,” which outlines the needs for a sovereign to rule and a social contract to be made. Both philosophers are realists and both identify the need for a ruler.
Thomas Hobbes described that life in a state of nature would be “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.” In addition, no one would be able to survive in an Anarchy society where there is no order and the safeguard of others is at risk. Therefore, governments require for citizens to surrender some freedom to obtain the benefits of the government. Thus, the government has preserved its two major purposes: maintaining order and providing public goods to the public and an uprising purpose of promoting equality. The main and oldest purpose of government is to maintain order by establishing laws to preserve life and protect property.
Hobbes was an English philosopher, known through out the world as the author of “Leviathan” which is regarded as one of the earliest examples of the social contract theory. His writings were greatly influenced by the
By continuing to act as citizens of a city or country and taking advantage of the benefits provided, people prove their consent to the government. They may complain, but they stay. Hobbes’s model, however, would force the people to submit to the ruler, even if he made choices they disagreed with. Because he was the law, Hobbes’s sovereign could do no wrong. I do not believe that one person should be able to rule without question. If Hobbes believes that human nature is so evil, why does he allow one evil person to reign unchecked?
Firstly, an absolute monarchy as proposed by Hobbes would require that people relinquish their own rights and to submit to one absolute power, which Locke feels is counterintuitive his understand of humans in the state of nature. A distinctive feature of Locke’s state of nature is perfect freedom for people to carry out their own wills without hindrance. Hence, Locke’s main critique of Hobbes’ absolutism is that people living under a Hobbesian
