Thomas Hobbes and John Locke are both political philosophers that have greatly influenced modern political thought. Both Hobbes and Locke reject the idea of a divine right, leading to both conveying their idea of a “social contract” an agreement between people and government, due to man living in “state of nature.” However, as both philosophers agreed on the existence of the state of “nature” the condition in which humanity resided before there was any form of civil society and a “social contract” an agreement between the people and government. Both have different perspectives on the meaning of these ideas.
Thomas Hobbes
Thomas Hobbes as the classic theorist of international anarchy, in his most famous piece of work published 1651 “Leviathan” states that the most effective form of government was absolute monarchy. Due to Hobbes belief in the absence of an absolute ruler, man would live in a State of Nature “no Arts; no Letters; no Society; and which is worst of all, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short” (Schochet, 1967). Hobbes state of nature was heavily influenced by the English Civil War, believing that humans are …show more content…
First of all, Jefferson took Locke’s ideas of natural rights of “Life, liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness” incorporating it in the U.S. Declaration of Independence. Secondly, Thomas Jefferson also shared Locke’s idea of the citizen’s right to revolution if the government is not maintaining and protecting these “natural rights,” thus the inclusion of the second amendment to the U.S. constitution in the right to bear arms. John Locke’s idea in natural rights has been varied out for centuries and most recently applied to the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights, where all people have natural rights of life and
Thomas Hobbes
Thomas Hobbes as the classic theorist of international anarchy, in his most famous piece of work published 1651 “Leviathan” states that the most effective form of government was absolute monarchy. Due to Hobbes belief in the absence of an absolute ruler, man would live in a State of Nature “no Arts; no Letters; no Society; and which is worst of all, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short” (Schochet, 1967). Hobbes state of nature was heavily influenced by the English Civil War, believing that humans are …show more content…
First of all, Jefferson took Locke’s ideas of natural rights of “Life, liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness” incorporating it in the U.S. Declaration of Independence. Secondly, Thomas Jefferson also shared Locke’s idea of the citizen’s right to revolution if the government is not maintaining and protecting these “natural rights,” thus the inclusion of the second amendment to the U.S. constitution in the right to bear arms. John Locke’s idea in natural rights has been varied out for centuries and most recently applied to the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights, where all people have natural rights of life and