Plato and Thomas Hobbes

Plato and Thomas Hobbes address man of the same subjects and set about to define many of the same basic concepts. That this should be so - despite the substantial differences in their philosophies and the innumerable differences between the two societies in which they lived - should not surprise us, for the two men were both interested in the ways in which human societies are constituted and in what form of rule should be instituted in those societies to promote welfare.

The overall similarity of their goals should not, however, in any way blind one to the substantial differences in their philosophies. Plato argued that the origins of political community arise from people's economic needs and from an ensuing interdependence on one another. Hobbes argued for a different form of social structure, although one that has some similarities to the model put forth by Plato: Under Hobbes's Social Contract all individuals in a group agree to give up certain rights (especially the right to attack others, or otherwise harm them) in exchange for their giving up their rights to harm us.

Plato believed that humans were, for the most par

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