During the Enlightenment, many intellectuals sought to understand society and its underlying mechanisms. People such as Hobbes theorized that society is necessary for people to escape the chaotic and brutal state of nature. However, Rousseau, in his Discourse on the Origin of Moral Inequality, opposes such arguments by stating that it is society that causes inequality and conflict. Additionally, in The Sufferings of Young Werther, the eponymous protagonist has similarly negative views on society, while simultaneously countering the rationalism of the other authors by being a radical Romantic. While both Rousseau and Werther criticize society, and censure its flaws, they do so from completely different perspectives.
He believes that the human condition, the traditions, experiences, and knowledge acquired by humans, is far to complex to be described by science and therefore avoids he commonly held views of political science from the Enlightenment Era. However, Thomas Hobbes, as he writes in Leviathan (1651) believed that all political phenomenons could be reported systematically as he equated all humans to machines, predictable by consistently acting in their self interest. [PG 3] Burke’s criticism that can be applied to Hobbes lies on three fronts; that the understanding human condition cannot be derived through logic; that consent, explicit or tacit, does not exist after the first social contract; and that a rebellion is neither possible nor effective when in a social contract. Thomas Hobbes’ prefaces his discussion of the social contract by giving credence to what he understood as science.
For Hobbes, the state of nature is a constant state of war by which all humans are equally capable of harming one another (Hobbes 185). Thus, humans require, “the mutual transferring of rights”, a contract with a sovereign authority to provide security and to protect humans from harming one another (Hobbes 192). Furthermore, Rousseau contends that, “all legitimate authority among men must be based on covenants” (Rousseau 53) and man will reach a point within the state of nature where, “obstacles to their preservation prove greater than the strength of each man” (Rousseau 59). Hobbes and Rousseau share similarities in the premise of their arguments by acknowledging the fundamental source of human motivation, the flaws of living within the state of nature, and the necessity of contract or a social pact between men and a sovereign
Thomas Hobbes and John Locke are two theorists known for their views regarding the social contract. Both theorists study the origins of government and the level of authority given to the state over individuals, thoroughly constructing their arguments through the social contract. A philosophical approach was used in both Hobbes’s and Locke’s arguments, however supporting different authorities. Thomas Hobbes advocates for absolutism whilst John Locke advocates for a constitutional government. Through the close examination of the state of nature, the relationships between subject and sovereign and views regarding the social contract, one can observe a more sensible basis for constructing a successful political society.
In the order of Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau, as time went on, the positive image of the government declined, and the negative image of humans in a state of nature became more positive. The reason that Locke’s philosophies are the most influential in democracies in today’s world is because his thinking was much more moderate than the extreme ideas of Hobbes and Rousseau; Hobbes believed humans were inherently evil and Rousseau believed humans were inherently good. Contrastingly, Locke believed that humans would fair well in a state of nature, but could utilize government as a source of order and benefit in life. In the end, their thoughts of the state of humans in a natural realm are what motivated their various thoughts about government. Although it is difficult to see what a human society would be like under complete anarchy, through the trials and errors of different countries and different political regimes, the philosophies of the different thinkers have shown their various benefits and
In his work, Locke puts a different perspective on the original, natural state of man. Unlike Hobbes with his thesis about the "war of all against all," Locke said that initially the absolute freedom of people has been a source of struggle, and expressed their willingness to follow the natural laws. This is the natural desire of people to lead them to the realization that it is necessary for the common good, to save the function free. Human life would be dangerous, brutish and short, without the presence of the authorities. Without political power all will live in a state of nature, where everyone has the freedom not limited to damages for all.
’”(Rousseau, Inequality, in CWT, 139). This quote is important because it shows that Locke and Rousseau are not completely opposed. In fact, Rousseau uses Locke’s words to help support his own ideas. Ultimately, they both recognize the strengths and weaknesses of the human condition, yet their
“In 1651, Hobbes wrote one of the most influential philosophical treatises in human history, Leviathan or the Matter Forme and Power of a Commonwealth Ecclesiasticall and Civil. Like his rival, John Locke, Hobbes posited that in a state of nature men and women were free to pursue and defend their own interests, which resulted in a state of war in which “the life of man” was “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short. ”(“Philosopher who influenced the Founding Fathers and the First Principles,”
Summary Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) theory of social contract, which states that we need moral, legal rules because we want to escape the state of nature which is solitary, poor, brutal, nasty, and short. In this state, a man can kill others, and there are limited resources. This can soon lead to a state of war in which we are constantly disposed to harm others to achieve our goals. So, in this state of war if a person was to possess a beautiful house or property, and had all the comforts, luxuries, and amenities to lead a wonderful life; others could come and harm him and deprive him of his fruit of labor, life, and liberty. Therefore, the state of nature is that of fear, violence, and distrust.
The balance of pleasure, or good, should offset the weight of pain, or bad. Even though humans may not be perfectly moral all the time, they could still know the natural moral laws and live by them. Hobbes disagreed. He spoke of the "war of all against all" rather a happy, peaceful society. Hobbes 's view on government was also different than Locke
Both social contract philosophers defended different views about moral and political obligations of men living in the state of nature stripped of their social characters. The state of nature illustrates how human beings acted prior to entering into civil society and becoming social beings living under common legitimacy. The state of nature is to be illustrated as a hypothetical device to explain political importance in the society. Thomas Hobbes, propounded politics and morality in his concept of the state
Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Thomas Hobbes, two titans of the Enlightenment, work within similar intellectual frameworks in their seminal writings. Hobbes, in Leviathan, postulates a “state of nature” before society developed, using it as a tool to analyze the emergence of governing institutions. Rousseau borrows this conceit in Discourse on Inequality, tracing the development of man from a primitive state to modern society. Hobbes contends that man is equal in conflict during the state of nature and then remains equal under government due to the ruler’s monopoly on authority. Rousseau, meanwhile, believes that man is equal in harmony in the state of nature and then unequal in developed society.
Thomas Hobbes has been famous for his philosophies on political and social order. In many of his scholastic works, he maintains the position that in the presence of a higher authority the duty of the rest of mankind is to simply obey. The discourse on this essay will focus on his views expressed in his book The Leviathan. In this book Hobbes’ views are fundamentally entrenched in his description that in a society with no higher authority life would be nasty, short and brutish (?) .This essay will engage in discussion by first laying out the conceptual arguments of anarchy and the human state of nature.
What, according to Rousseau, were the worst effects of socialisation? Jeans-Jacques Rousseau’s Discourse on the Origin and Basis of Inequality Among Men is a defence of the original man in a state of nature and an attack on the corrupt and elitist European society of his day. Rousseau sought to ‘go back to an earlier point and try to piece together[… the] slow succession of events’ in order to pinpoint where humanity degenerated from the state of nature to today’s “civilised” society. In this sense, Rousseau seems to be attributing the process of socialisation to ‘all the evils’ in the world.
Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau have become known as three of the most prominent political theorists in the world today. Their philosophies and innovative thinking is known worldwide and it has influenced the creation of numerous new governments. All three thinkers agree on the idea of a social contract but their opinions differ on how the social contract is established and implemented within each society. These philosophers state, that in order for the social contract to be successful people need to give up certain freedoms in order to secure fundamental protections from the state, henceforth the state then has certain responsibilities to their citizens. Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau all believe that before men were governed we all lived in a state of nature.