Comparison of Beliefs of Hobbes and Locke

Hobbes' political philosophy aims at ensuring civil order, which means for him the absolute power of the government, or the Leviathan, which power the people have given him through the social contract. Locke, on the other hand, keeps much more power in the hands of the people through the legislature, which means, in effect, majority rule. Locke was also deeply concerned with maintaining the rights of the people, especially the right to own property. Locke's political philosophy, therefore, produces a much more democratic system, while Hobbes' produces a much more authoritarian, if not totalitarian, system.

Both Locke and Hobbes start their political analysis with reference to the state of nature. However, their definitions of this state of nature stand in stark contrast to one another. It is no coincidence that their interpretations of the state of nature correspond directly to the final conclusions they draw about what is what important in a civil society. The contrasting perceptions of the state of nature on the part of these two philosophers are crucial, because

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does not carry out their will. Locke believes in a social contract with more flexibility on the part of the people. What Locke is most concerned with in terms of the rights of the people were property rights. Hobbes sees government's primary function as the establishment and preservation of security from the war and chaos which were the essential elements of that state of nature. Locke, on the other hand, as we have seen, argues that people through their reason can perceive the moral law and follow it. However, due to laziness, they do not always follow rational and God-given standards, so there is some threat to their rights, especially, again, to their right to own property. This is the primary function of government to Locke, and the principle reason which men agree to become a part of a civil society in the first place and yield some of their power to the government. The sovereign is the head of the government and can be an individual or a group, but it is the entity which exercises the unlimited powers of the government. Again, the point of this arrangement or contract is not to have a great power ruling over the people, but rather to have a power which makes decisions and takes actions designed to create and maintain orde
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Calling Leviathan, Sovereign Leviathan, Locke Hobbes, Treatise Government, God Hobbes, Leviathan Locke, Sovereign Sovereign, Author Hobbes, Assembly Hobbes, , social contract, political philosophy, locke hand, ideal government, war chaos, nature , own property, power government, civil society, locke's political philosophy, power change, especially own property, nature liberty,
Approximate Word count = 1917
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page)

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