Hobbes and Locke
Thomas Hobbes and John Locke are both social contract theorist who had similar views of life, but they differed greatly in their fundamentals of the state of nature. They both agreed that for people to enjoy the benefits of society, they must make sacrifices of certain rights. Hobbes and Locke differ in the government used to enforce these rights. Locke's sovereignty was always held accountable to the people, while Hobbes' government had boundless control over the people. The foremost explanation for their difference is their fundamental priorities. Hobbes seeks peace, and Locke values the rights of property, life, and liberty. Thomas Hobbes Fundamental Law of Nature is to seek peace. You can conclude that the state of nature is actually the state of war. Men are constantly in a struggle for power, only after their own self-interest, which will only end in death. All humans are equal and one can conclude that any man can kill another and this leads to distrust between them. A man's property is all he can take and the only thing he can prevent from being taken from him. This often leads men to become enemies and they will often try and repress or destroy the other.In order to obtain peace man must follow natural laws in order t
The people must bestow collective power of the society into one man or one group of men. The legislature is supreme in parts of government, but the body politic is the ultimate supreme. Locke pioneered the idea of separation of powers, which the framers favored. The power is only given to the sovereign because the sharing of power would only the lead to fighting, which is contrary to the aim of the government. John Locke has a different view of the state of nature. A government's power is only legitimate if it changes the problems that were in a state of nature. However, in the state of nature, natural law does not exist; a power is needed to create a law to follow. He believes that no man has more power or jurisdiction than any other man. He feels people are made better under the law and that civil society civilizes people. Too much self-interest would be involved, rather than the society in whole. Hobbes agreed that the people must come together in a majority and form one great power. A man must lay down his natural rights and with mutual trust others must do the same, but this is difficult to do because it is conflicts with our natural desire. The sovereign is not subject to civil law and cannot be unjust, and the only injustice would be to break contract.
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