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Comparison of Beliefs of Hobbes and Locke

This study will compare and contrast the beliefs, theories and philosophies of Thomas Hobbes and John Locke as expressed in Leviathan and Second Treatise of Government. The study will argue that the basic difference between the two philosophers is Hobbes' distrust of the people and Locke's relatively greater trust of the people and distrust of the government's power and the likelihood of the abuse of that power.

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 they use those perceptions as the foundations for the political philosophies which they then construct.

All that Hobbes says in terms of defining and defending the great power of the Leviathan flows from his belief that the terrible state of war, force and fraud which exists in the state of nature must be avoided at all costs. On the other hand, Locke's more democratic political philosophy flows from his belief in man's ability to reason, and his right t...

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Comparison of Beliefs of Hobbes and Locke. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 00:41, March 29, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1689532.html