Nature From Thomas Hobbes And John Locke Philosophy Essay

John Locke quotes in his famous book the American frontier and Soldania as an example of people in the state of nature, where property rights and peace existed. Rome and Venice was in the state of nature before they were founded. On the American frontier, john Locke mentioned that people are in the state of nature though such places and times are insecure, violent conflicts are often. John Locke insisted in his “second treatise of government” that the state of nature was indeed to be preferred to subjection to the random power of an absolute sovereign. [3] 

John Locke ideas influenced the United States Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. John Locke considered the father of Liberalism. [4] 

Is the State of Nature Thomas Hobbes explains to understand political society; we first need to understand its system, people. We then need to understand the agreements that form society, and from these agreements we will understand the form and status of the state. “Self preservation” is our most fundamental desire; and if there is no law or authority to take priority over our acting on this desires, no one to tell us how or why not we may try to stay alive. So Thomas Hobbes argues that in the state of nature, man have rights to use men power, however man chooses in order to stay alive. Thomas Hobbes wrote this in his book, Leviathan. But each person’s right to self preservation conflicts with everyone else’s. Each person must eventually rely just on themselves, on their strength and intelligence. This will lead to a state of war, not in the sense that people will always be fighting each other, but that everyone will be disposed or ready to fight if they need to and will live in a state of “no society; and which is worst of all, continual fear and danger of violent deaths; and the life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.” [5] Men desire power. By power Thomas Hobbes means to obtain what men want. More accurately, to have power is now possess the means to get what men want in the future. In the state of nature, we are equal; no one is strong that they can dominate others and overpower all resistance. Any difference of physical strength can be matched by the other person finding people to help, or by their intelligence, or by their experience. Also there is scarcity.

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Not everyone can have everything they want, especially when what they want includes the power to get what they want in the future. Finally man are weak, other people can cause us to fail to achieve the power we need to satisfy our desires. All this leads to a violent circle. Men might not be inclined to attach other people, but we know that some of them may attach us. The best form of defense, the best way to get what men want, is to attack first. The only way to have enough power is to have more power than other men. So even people who are not violent have reason to become violent if they fear losing what they want. Men will fight for gain, to get what we need; men will fight for security to get what we need in the future. Hobbes says, we will fight for the glory. All this leads to the conclusion that state of nature equals to state of war. [6] 

John Locke had famous 2 categories of philosophy; first category is empirical philosophy and political philosophy. Empirical philosophy: is the position that all human knowledge derives originally from the senses and there is no such thing as knowledge that precedes observation. In other words, you are born without knowledge, without head. His political philosophy influenced the United States declaration of independence and the constitution.

The state of nature: is a position that we have rights naturally they are not giving to us by men. The way this theory is achieving first believing as stated, all man created equal. In this part of believe system it becomes impossible to believe, any one superior to someone else. No men has right to tell how to live your life. However John Locke observed that many people willing lived in political societies, where they were told what do to by a superior person or group. Locke wanted to understand why people would leave the state of nature. Man being his own authority and join a political society, one man having authority over another.

What he discovered the State of Nature is a State of liberty it is also a State of Inconveniences, this is why people leave the State of Nature. The other reason that Locke theory explains there is no common judge and there is no publicly established law. In other words other people can violate the State of Nature if they desire and if you have no power to stop them. The State of Nature is a State of liberty but it is not a State of license. Think of it like this way. Let’s say that if you are the only person on pavement and riding a bicycle very fast and John Locke point of view, it is arguable that you have every right to do so, what if there are kids on that pavement? All sudden your danger lives of other individuals by riding bicycle very fast. According to John Locke, you have right to danger your own life by riding very fast but you do not have right to danger someone else’s life, you are violating their natural rights. This is why state of nature is a State of liberty but not a state of license. We coexist with other people. “This is makes him willing to quit this condition which, however free, is full of fears and continual dangers; and it is not without reason that he seeks out and is willing to join in society with others already united, or have a mind to unite for the mutual preservation of their; lives, liberty and estates, which is property in general name” [7] if the town don’t have the government Let’s say man decided to continue riding a bicycle very fast, if the family or the kids don’t have power to stop that man who is riding, they will have a fear all the time, when the man rides a bicycle on the pavement. An less they created political society, they will have law and they will force law, which will protect them. According to Locke as stated people will leave the state of nature because it is inconvenient. There is no common judge and publicly established laws. However, once the political society is created, it is the sole purpose of government to protect individual’s life liberty and property. In essence, the government becomes an extension of the people to protect the people from the people. If someone takes the property of another person, takes the liberty of another person, or perhaps takes the life of another person, they have broken the law. These philosophies of John Locke can be heard throughout the declaration of the independence. According to John Locke,” The Sate of Nature has a law of nature to govern it, which obliges every one and reason, which is that law, teaches all mankind who will but consult it, that being all equal and independent, no one ought to harm another in his life, health, liberty or possessions.” [8] In other words. In order for there to be civility without government, the law of reason must be executed by everybody because everybody has this ability, everybody has this right.

Theories by Thomas Hobbes and John Locke are opposite against each other. Thomas Hobbes is much more pessimistic; viewing men as evil, natural law as a state of war, and government as something that can take over natural law. John Locke is much more optimistic; viewing men as free and equal and sees the government as only a protection of the state they are naturally in. Even though the difference in their theories, their ideas were revolutionary for their time. The interest they took in men natural personality, natural law, and the role of Government, provided motivation for and was the focus of many literary works all through the explanation.

In the state of nature many people of political and philosophical on nature had ideas that effected government and social well being. John Locke, with writing the second treatise and Thomas Hobbes book named Leviathan have been instrumental in forming the basis of thought for political and social ideas. This idea continues today, in current social and political circles. Thomas Hobbes and Locke ideas form the basis for the state of nature today.