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Thomas Hobbes: state of nature
john locke on equality and liberty
Thomas Hobbes: state of nature
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Laws
Laws. We all must obey them, but why? For fear of going to jail, or being fined? Those are the individual effects of civil disobedience, but what happens what is the purpose of law in society? Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau all attempted to interpret the need for laws in society, in order to maintain the good of the whole and the individual. Each of there examination of the need for laws in society arose from the individual's departure from the "state of nature" to community living. It is important to examine each philosopher's idea of the "state of nature" to then understand what laws are important and why obedience is necessary.
The State of Nature
Thomas Hobbes saw the state of nature, not as a period in history, but a rather how individuals would act in the most fundamental state, a state where there was "continual fear, and danger of violent death; And the life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short." A state where the most natural condition for the human race was the pursuit of power and a constant struggle to survival. Nothing about the state of nature to Hobbes was warm and happy, rather it was a constant solitary, poor nasty brutish and short struggle to survive, where all men were equal. Equal because they all were capable of killing each other. No man would want to live in this state of nature. So therefor, man seeks to leave this state and enter governed human existence.
John Locke saw the state of nature as being almost as horrible to that of Hobbes' but he believed that God's law still existed and created morality for humans. In the state of nature, Locke hypothesized that all men had perfect freedom and all were equal. They also, being to the service of their creator God, had a moral obligation to protect all of mankind rather than just the protecting the liberty of oneself. The problem that occurred in Locke's state of nature was one where every man held executive and legislative power and governs for themselves and were able to determine crimes and punishments. This absolute power and desire for power deteriorates into the state of war, which is only avoidable if man enters into society, and thus he can preserve his life and property.
John Locke was an English philosopher who lived during 1632-1704. In political theory he was equally influential. Contradicting Hobbes, Locke maintained that the original state of nature was happy and characterized by reason and tolerance; all human beings were equal and free to pursue "life, health, liberty, and possessions." The state formed by the social contract was guided by the natural law, which guaranteed those inalienable rights. He set down the policy of checks and balances later followed in the U.S. Constitution; formulated the doctrine that revolution in some circumstances is not only a right but an obligation; and argued for broad religious freedom.
Locke drew his ideas from a time where Hobbes did not have the chance to observe the glorious revolution. In uncivilized times, in times before government, Hobbes asserted the existence of continual war with "every man, against every man." At this point, Locke and Hobbes were not in agreement. Locke, consistent with his philosophy, viewed man as naturally moral. Many people have different views on the moral subject of good and evil or human nature.
Hobbes views human nature as the war of each man against each man. For Hobbes, the essence of human nature can be found when we consider how man acts apart from any government or order. Hobbes describes the world as “a time of war, where every man is enemy to every man.” (Hobbes mp. 186) In such a world, there are “no arts; no letters; no society; and which is worst of all, continual fear, and danger of violent death; and the life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.” (Hobbes mp. 186) Hobbes believes that laws are what regulate us from acting in the same way now. He evidences that our nature is this way by citing that we continue to lock our doors for fear of theft or harm. Hobbes gives a good argument which is in line with what we know of survivalism, and evidences his claim well. Hobbes claims that man is never happy in having company, unless that company is utterly dominated. He says, “men have no pleasure, (but on the contrary a great dea...
John Locke explains the state of nature as a state of equality in which no one has power over another, and all are free to do as they please. He notes, however, that this liberty does not equal license to abuse others, and that natural law exists even in the state of nature. Each individual in the state of nature has the power to execute natural laws, which are universal.
The final sentence of that passage, “And the life of man, solitary, poore, nasty, brutish, and short,” seems to sum up what Hobbes has been leading up to in the first twelve chapters of Leviathan: that without a sovereign power, without Leviathan, the natural life of man is simply horrible. It is a life in which people naturally and constantly seek to destroy one another.
Locke believes that state of nature is pre-political but at the same time it is not pre-moral. He believes that everyone i...
This first paragraph will outline Hobbes’ concept of the state of nature, a necessary starting point to understand the philosopher’s view. In fact, his account of human nature is revealed thanks to the reasons he provides for believing that the state of nature is a state of war. Hobbes describes the state of nature as a place without any form of civil
...ture. As Locke himself says: the obligations of the law of nature cease not in society. There is thus a double restraint upon the body politic; it has to respect the natural rights to life liberty and property which people enjoyed in the state of nature and to abide by the law of nature itself. In short, unlike the social contract of Hobbes which gives absolute and unlimited powers to the sovereign ruler, the original contract of Locke gives only limited powers to the community; it is not a bond of slavery but charter of freedom. In the hands of Locke the contract theory is made to serve the purpose for which it was originally enunciated; namely, to defend the liberty of the individual against the claim to absolute authority on the part of the ruler. It hardly needs pointing out that Locke uses it to preserve as much of natural freedom to the individual as possible.
Hobbes describes the State of Nature as a state where all men are equal, since one individual can kill another individual. With this state of inequality, he claims that this equality has an “equality of hope” in accomplishing one’s ends. If two men seek the same end, and only one can have it, the two men would be enemies and would seek to “destroy or subdue one another” (Hobbes 1651, 2). Hobbes goes further to claim that men are not obliged in “keeping company where there is no power able to overawe them all” (Hobbes 1651, 2).
In order for laws to be enacted, they must be known by the constituents. Laws are created, enacted, and enforced to preserve civil society. For Locke and Rousseau these laws are made by the people who will have to abide by them. Considering that these laws were agreed by the majority, it is expect that they will follow said laws. Those who break the law in civil society are punished to the full extent of the law by an impartial judge. The difference between breaking the law in civil society and the state of nature is that justice in the civil society is meant to deter lawlessness with punishments proportionate to the crime. In the state of nature/ war it is likely that the punishment will not be proportionate to the crime.
Hobbes and Rousseau created a revolutionary idea of the state of nature. They did not believe government should be organized through the church, therefore abandoning the idea of the divine right theory, where power of the king came directly from God. Starting from a clean slate, with no organized church, Hobbes and Rousseau needed a construct on what to build society on. The foundation of society began with the original state of nature. Hobbes’ perception of the original state of nature is what would exist if there were no common power to execute and enforce the laws to restrain individuals. In this case, the laws of the jungle would prevail: only the fittest survive. Man’s desires are insatiable. Since resources are scarce, humankind is naturally competitive, inevitably creating jealousy and hatred, which eventually leads to war.
����������� Thomas Hobbes is an important political and social philosopher. He shares his political philosophy in his work Leviathan. Hobbes begins by describing the state of nature, which is how humans coped with one another prior to the existence of government. He explains that without government, �the weakest has the strength to kill the strongest� (Hobbes 507). People will do whatever it takes to further their own interests and protect their selves; thus, creating a constant war of �every man against every man� (Hobbes 508). His three reasons for people fighting amongst each other prior to government include �competition,� �diffidence,� and �glory� (Hobbes 508). He explains how men fight to take power over other people�s property, to protect them selves, and to achieve fame. He describes life in the state of nature as being �solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short� (Hobbes 508). Hobbes goes on to say that if men can go on to do as they please, there will always be war. To get out of this state of nature, individuals created contracts with each other and began to form a government.
The understanding of the state of nature is essential to both theorists’ discussions. For Hobbes, the state of nature is equivalent to a state of war. Locke’s description of the state of nature is more complex: initially the state of nature is one of “peace, goodwill, mutual assistance and preservation”. Transgressions against the law of nature, or reason which “teaches mankind that all being equal and independent, no one ought to harm another in his life, health, liberty and possessions,” are but few. The state of nature, according to Locke’s Treatise, consists of the society of man, distinct from political society, live together without any superior authority to restrict and judge their actions. It is when man begins to acquire property that the state of nature becomes somewhat less peaceful.
Hobbes believes that all men are equal insofar as that the weakest man has the power to kill the strongest man. Thus given that every man is vulnerable to any other man, all men have a very strong desire to escape the state where killing each other is acceptable, escape the state of nature. This can be done, simply put by endeavoring peace which coupled with not making war except to defend oneself, is the first law of nature (Leviathan 1, 14).
Hobbes was a strong believer in the thought that human nature was evil. He believed that “only the unlimited power of a sovereign could contain human passions that disrupt the social order and threatened civilized life.” Hobbes believed that human nature was a force that would lead to a constant state of war if it was not controlled. In his work the Leviathan, he laid out a secular political statement in which he stated the significance of absolutism.