1 / 12

John Locke v. Thomas Hobbes

John Locke v. Thomas Hobbes. Two Theories on Government. State of Nature. DIFFERENCE Locke: State of relative peace Hobbes: State of war!. Status of Men in the State of Nature. Similarity: Men are equal in a state of nature Difference: Men are equal for different reasons

chessa
Download Presentation

John Locke v. Thomas Hobbes

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. John Locke v. Thomas Hobbes Two Theories on Government

  2. State of Nature • DIFFERENCE • Locke: State of relative peace • Hobbes: State of war!

  3. Status of Men in the State of Nature • Similarity: Men are equal in a state of nature • Difference: Men are equal for different reasons • Locke: Men are created equal in eyes of their creator. All have reason. All can universal understanding of natural rights and law • Hobbes: Men are equal because the weakest is capable of killing the strongest and because all men believe they are just as smart as his fellow man which facilitates greed and competition

  4. Men as Rational Creatures? • SIMILARITY • Both men believe men enter into a social compact (create a government) because it is in their self-interest and will advance their condition

  5. Purpose for Government’s Existence • SIMILARITY • Men create government to secure their lives and property • State of nature requires additional regulation - natural law is not enough

  6. HOW Government is Created • SIMILARITY • Men give up the total freedom they have in the state of nature to live under rules • DIFFERENCE • Locke: Men willingly give up SOME of their freedom to the government • Hobbes: Men willingly give up ALL of their freedom to the government

  7. Type of Government Established • DIFFERENCE • Locke: A legislative body containing representatives chosen by the very people who created it • Hobbes: An absolute monarchy or dictatorship

  8. SOURCE of Government’s Authority • SIMILARITY • The people!!!!!!!! • Known as “social contract”

  9. Right to Alter / Abolish Government • DIFFERENCE • Locke: “where law ends, tyranny begins” • If representatives violate laws of nature, they can be overthrown and men will revert to a state of nature • Hobbes: “where no law, no justice” • If you remove the government, men will revert to a state of war - this is not in their self-interest.

  10. Human Nature • DIFFERENCE • Locke: men are intrinsically good (tabla rusa) but flawed • They are capable of restraining these flaws and governing themselves • Hobbes: men are intrinsically evil • Self-aggrandizing creatures require external control

  11. World Views / Life Experiences • DIFFERENCE • Hobbes: exiled from England in 1640s during English Civil War • Witnessed worst of humanity • Locke: Published his work after the “Glorious” or “Bloodless” Revolution (1680s) • Power was transferred from Catholic monarch to a Protestant monarch without violence and a Bill of Rights was established

  12. Who do you agree with? Which author had the greatest impact on American government?

More Related