Comparing Thomas Hobbes and John Locke

So where are we…

England in the mid-1600s. Chaos is everywhere. People are

unhappy with the shape of their nation. Disagreements about religion, liberties

(freedoms), and properties are all over. England is trying to figure out how

government should be run.

So who are Locke and Hobbes

Both men had a tremendous impact on revolutionary thought in England, America, and France

Both believed in a social contract, or an agreement between individuals and their government about rights in society.

What they disagreed about was what should be written in that contract…

Thomas Hobbes

Supported monarchies (kings) Said people are inherently selfish and

evil. He wrote about this political philosophy in

his book, Leviathan. Said people chose a ruler and should trust

his decision making, or else their natural selfishness would result lawlessness and conflict.

According to Hobbes

The only right people have is to protect their own lives.

All rights to everything else are trusted to the king.

All people are inherently savages, and cannot be trusted in decision making as a group.

Are people inherently savages?

Hobbes’s Impact

Influenced supporters of the monarchy in Europe. Said the world is a

place where only the strong survive unless order is forced by a ruler.

People should give up individual liberty for public safety.

Think about it….

In revolutions are people safe? But are there always alternatives to

revolutions? Sometime is it the only answer?

John Locke

Said people have rights that are above that of the good of society.

They include life, liberty, and property.

Governments and leaders only exist to protect these rights.

The basis for the Declaration of Independence!

Locke’s Impact

Claimed there was no such thing as absolute power. Parliament, the lawmaking body in

England, listens to Locke. Establish Habeas Corpus, or protection

against unfair arrest and imprisonment. English Bill of Rights guarantees basic

protections in England for the first time in the late 1600s.

Locke’s main point…

A ruler who denies people their basic rights is a tyrant and can justly be overthrown.

Think of examples we have talked about this semester!

Meanwhile in France…

People are beginning to take notice of England.

They rebel against the powerful kings that have ruled for hundreds of years…

The rich are too rich, and the poor are getting poorer….

The time is right for Revolution….

Influence on today’s society by Locke or Hobbes?

Constitution? Supreme Court? President? Wartime laws? School??

In wartime, should people give up individual freedom for security?

What about in times of peace?