Question

Research the positions of Thomas Hobbes and John Locke on social contract theory. Once you have finished analyzing the sources and your notes, write a short (two- to three-paragraph) reflective essay comparing and contrasting the social contract theories of the two philosophers. Be sure to include specific examples from the lesson and outside sources.

Answer 1

Homework Help > Political ScienceCompare and contrast the philosophies of Thomas Hobbes and John Locke.Download AnswersAsked on August 28, 2012 at 3:06 AM by kalliem20like 2dislike 03 Answers | Add Yoursthetall | (Level 3) EducatorPosted on August 6, 2015 at 10:42 AMThomas Hobbes and John Locke were both English philosophers. Thomas Hobbes discussed and developed the social contract theory through his book Leviathan. The social contract theory was later supported and interpreted further by John Locke. This theory which was important to the two philosophers explains the relationship between the state and the individual. It asserts that individuals have agreed to relinquish some of their freedoms in order to establish an authority to protect their remaining collective freedoms. Both Thomas Hobbes and John Locke were supporters of liberalism. They both supported individual freedoms and equality.The two philosophers differ in the sense that whereas Thomas Hobbes supported absolutism for the sovereign, John Locke supported the establishment of authority that is subject to the people. John Locke further differed with Hobbes in terms of revolution against the authority by the people. Locke supported revolutions while Hobbes supported absolutism. In this regard, Hobbes did not support the principle of separation of powers that Locke proposed in his discussions.

Answer 2

Both English philosophers, Hobbes and Locke, believed there is a "social contract" -- that governments are formed by the will of the people.  But their theories on why people want to live under governments were very different.

Thomas Hobbes published his political theory in Leviathan in 1651, following the chaos and destruction of the English Civil War.  He saw human beings as naturally suspicious of one another, in competition with each other, and evil toward one another as a result.  Forming a government meant giving up personal liberty, but gaining security against what would otherwise be a situation of every person at war with every other person.

John Locke published his Two Treatises on Civil Government in 1690, following the mostly peaceful transition of government power that was the Glorious Revolution in England.  Locke believed people are born as blank slates--with no preexisting knowledge or moral leanings.  Experience then guides them to the knowledge and the best form of life, and they choose to form governments to make life and society better.

In teaching about Hobbes and Locke, I've often described the difference between them in this way.  If society were playground basketball, Hobbes believed you must have a referee who sets and enforces rules, or else the players will eventually get into heated arguments and bloody fights with one another, because people get nasty in competition that way.   Locke believed you could have an enjoyable game of playground basketball without a referee, but a referee makes the game better because then any disputes that come up between players have a fair way of being resolved.    Of course, Hobbes and Locke never actually wrote about basketball -- a game not invented until 1891 in America by James Naismith.  But it's just an illustration I've used to try to show the difference of ideas between Hobbes and Locke.   :-)