The Philosophies Of John Locke And Thomas

Hobbes Essay, Research Paper

Thomas Hobbes and John Locke were two philosophers with completely different ideas.

One tended to be more conservative and prejudice, whilst the other was free of spirit and

open-minded. However, they were both working towards the same goal: an ideal way to live life.

Thomas Hobbes first and foremost believed that all people all self-serving, prudent, and

unjust, and that people and nations fought only for their own good. He also felt that people are

naturally wicked. If left alone, they would act on their evil intentions. This is why Hobbes

thought the best form of government for the people is an absolute monarchy. Since the monarch

would, in fact, be one of the ?evil people? Hobbes based his theory upon, there would be a

governing body to keep the king in check. Another point of Hobbes? was that people are

constantly at war at each other, and only for their own interests. On this, he had more theories:

he stated the three reasons war is begun are competition for limited space, distrust, and

preservation of a powerful reputation, and the three reasons war would end would be fear of

death, desire for adequate living, and hope to attain this better life through labor, and not wars.

His last major theory is based primarily upon ?treat others as you wish to be treated?. Hobbes

believed that all humans begin life as equals, then they are shaped by society, becoming products

of their environment, which teaches them to fight for dominance. He claims that the best way to

live life is to avoid signs of hatred, and avoid pride.

John Locke had a different philosophy. He said all ideas come from experience, and that

there are two kinds of experience, sensation or introspection. Sensation is your physical

experience, while introspection is the knowledge you gain from exploring your mental capabilities.

His view was that there is a limit on your knowledge, that the only things you can be positive on

are the existence of God, your morality, and mathematics. Much of today?s political system stems

from the concepts of Locke. He preached democracy, that people had a natural ability to govern

themselves, and they should tolerate the ideas of others. He invented the ideas of three branches

of government, and the right to life, freedom, and property.

I don?t agree with just one philosopher. I think their opinions have their strengths, and

weakness, in distinct places. For instance, if Thomas Hobbes felt all people are inherently evil,

and needed a king to rule over them, but that king would also be evil, and needed a governing

body to rule over him, wouldn?t all members of the governing body be evil, thus rendering the

whole system of government worthless? I do believe in people?s ability to govern themselves, but

agree with Hobbes? system of one ruler for the sole fact that I?m lazy and an absolute monarchy

would take far less work than if I tried to set my own laws, alliances, monetary systems, etc. I

just say, let?s switch government systems daily, and then we?ll make everyone happy. (you can

really tell how just how much I care about the government…)