Thomas Hobbes vs. John Locke

In this essay, we will be examining two of the greatest modern philosophers in political science. First, Thomas Hobbes, which was an English philosopher who published his main work in 1651 calledthe leviathan. The second philosopher is John Locke which was also an English philosopher known as the father of liberalism who published his work in 1689 known as the two treatise of government. Both Locke and Hobbes discuss the role of government in man’s life and their views on man’s state of nature. Even though their ideology contradicts or opposes one another, their use of their structure as the state of nature and their end outcomes is to have a state which protects itself and its citizens.
Starting with Hobbes, his state of nature of man is very violent and uncivilized. He believed that man in his state of nature is derived by his animalist instinct instead of logic or rationale. The notion of good or evil does not exist in his state of nature and thus makes it a state of survival, also known as the survival of the fittest or the state of war. Man in his state of nature lives with an overbearing sense of fear which results to his actions being defensive in order to protect himself and his possessions.
Hobbes believed that man was not satisfied with his state of nature and had a desire to escape from this state towards a more peaceful state which will dissolve his feeling of fear. In order to obtain peace, Hobbes looks to man using reason, which enables man to respond to what Hobbes calls “The Laws of Nature”. It is through these laws that man can seek peace and to enable man’s natural right to all things, providing that others will do the same. Hobbes labeled this mutual transferring of rights between men a “contract”.
Hobbes believed that man had a constant hunger for power which creates a threat to the contract; therefore, in order to eliminate that hunger, there must be some common power in effect to enforce the laws. He concludes his theory by forming an...