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Great philosopher of the 17th century
Supported new scientific movements
Visited Paris
Knew Descartes, Galileo, and Harvey
A great historian
1st book was a history book, History of the
Peloponnesian War
Witnessed the horrors of the English Civil War
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One of the most influential books ever written
Hobbes’ aim was to provide a justification for a
strong central authority
Portrayed man and society in a materialistic
and mechanical way
All humans are egotistical and selfish
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Man is driven by physical motivations only
Man does not seek higher spiritual things
Lacks the capability of true morality
Left along man is destructive
Man must be controlled
That control comes in the form of a strong
central ruler- The Leviathan
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"In such condition there is no place for
industry, because the fruit thereof is uncertain,
and consequently, not culture of the earth, no
navigation, nor the use of commodities that
may be imported by sea, no commodious
building, no instruments of moving and
removing such things as require much force, no
knowledge of the face of the earth, no account
of time, no arts, no letters, no society, and
which is worst of all, continual fear and danger
of violent death, and the life of man, solitary,
poor, nasty, brutish, and short."[2]
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The sovereign has twelve principal rights:
because a successive covenant cannot override a prior one, the subjects cannot (lawfully) change the
form of government.
because the covenant forming the commonwealth results from subjects giving to the sovereign the
right to act for them, the sovereign cannot possibly breach the covenant; and therefore the subjects can
never argue to be freed from the covenant because of the actions of the sovereign.
the sovereign exists because the majority has consented to his rule; the minority have agreed to abide
by this arrangement and must then assent to the sovereign's actions.
every subject is author of the acts of the sovereign: hence the sovereign cannot injure any of his
subjects and cannot be accused of injustice.
following this, the sovereign cannot justly be put to death by the subjects.
because the purpose of the commonwealth is peace, and the sovereign has the right to do whatever he
thinks necessary for the preserving of peace and security and prevention of discord. Therefore, the
sovereign may judge what opinions and doctrines are averse, who shall be allowed to speak to
multitudes, and who shall examine the doctrines of all books before they are published.
to prescribe the rules of civil law and property.
to be judge in all cases.
to make war and peace as he sees fit and to command the army.
to choose counsellors, ministers, magistrates and officers.
to reward with riches and honour or to punish with corporal or pecuniary punishment or ignominy.
to establish laws about honour and a scale of worth.
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The “contract” is a concept seen in the works of
Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau
For Hobbes it is an agreement to live in a
tightly controlled society
People would give up their personal rights to
ensure peace and self defense
In a fashion- The “Golden Rule”
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For Hobbes anarchy is more dangerous than
tyranny
There is no argument for appeal
Rulers should be absolute and unlimited in
their power
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For Hobbes the type of absolutism was not of
concern
Whether it is a monarchy, oligarchy, legislative
body etc. does not matter
It is the nature of authority not the type.
For Hobbes the worst form of government is
the representative form ie. Republic
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The most influential political thinker of the 17th
century
Major source of criticism against absolutism
Foundation of liberal political philosophy
Puritan sympathies
Family fought on the side of Parliament in Civil
War
Locke was considered radical in both his
religious and his political views
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Rejects argument for absolutism
Although this first work by Locke is not widely
read it did prove to be the starting point for his
argument supporting representative
government
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Here Locke presents his full argument for
representative government
Opposite to Hobbes he presents the nature of
man to be good, reasonable and full of
goodwill
Man has certain natural rights
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Life
Liberty
property
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Man has a strong capacity for living peacefully in
society
There is modest conflict and competition but not
war
They enter into a contract with the leader to
protect the rights
Locke concludes that the best form of government
is one of limited authority
Conflict exists only when rulers fail to defend the
natural rights of their citizens
Locke concludes that man has the RIGHT OF
REBELLION!!!!
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Provided a foundation for religious toleration
and religious liberties
He also advocated the separation of Church
and State
Many of his ideas will be incorporated after
1688 (Glorious Rev.) and after the American
Rev.
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Concerned itself with psychology
Man is born the Tabla Rasa, the Blank Slate
The events of our lives determine who we will
be
Change the environment, change the man
Rejects the idea of original sin
People are not born good or bad
Society makes us what we are
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Both men present a rational reasonable
argument for their perspective concept of
government
Both men were a product of their experience
Both me will have a profound impact on the
subject of political science
Their views are still being argued today