Locke's Theory Of A Social Contract By Hobbes And Locke

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The founding fathers were politicians but, were also brilliant political philosophers. They looked for help for the western tradition of political philosophy as they looked for the ideal government. Hobbes and Locke both theorized that in any society, there existed a “state of nature” when there was no government. The second treatise contains Locke’s own view of justification for the civil government. To create a government, a social contract was made between a ruler and the ruled. To fulfill the functions of the contract, governments make rules that everyone must follow and they have the authority to punish those who do not follow them. Governments achieve their authority in two ways, their legitimacy and their ability to use force. Hobbes and Locke, however, had quite different views on the terms of this social contract. Hobbes social contract wanted people to surrender their freedom to the state and in return, they received order and security. Hobbes believed that as long as the government was maintaining order, the people did not have the right to break this contract and The founding fathers were politicians but, were also brilliant political philosophers. They looked for help for the western tradition of political philosophy as they …show more content…

To fulfill the functions of the contract, governments make rules that everyone must follow and they have the authority to punish those who do not follow them. Governments achieve their authority in two ways, their legitimacy and their ability to use force. Hobbes and Locke, however, had quite different views on the terms of this social contract. Hobbes social contract wanted people to surrender their freedom to the state and in return, they received order and security. Hobbes believed that as long as the government was maintaining order, the people did not have the right to break this contract and were obligated to follow

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