Hobbes Locke Montesquieu And Rousseau On Government
Hobbes, Locke, Montesquieu, and Rousseau on Government
Starting in the 1600s, European philosophers began debating the question of who should govern a nation. As the absolute rule of kings weakened, Enlightenment philosophers argued for different forms of democracy.
Thomas Hobbes: Man of the State
Locke: The Reluctant Democrat
Montesquieu: The Balanced Democrat
Rousseau: The Extreme Democrat
Thomas Hobbes: Man of the State
In 1649, a civil war broke out over who would rule England—Parliament or King Charles
I. The war ended with the beheading of the king. Shortly after Charles was executed, an
English philosopher,
Thomas Hobbes
(1588–1679), wrote
Leviathan
, a defense of the absolute power of kings. The title of the book referred to a leviathan, a mythological, whalelike sea monster that devoured whole ships. Hobbes likened the leviathan to government, a powerful state created to impose order. Hobbes began
Leviathan by describing the “state of nature” where all individuals were naturally equal. Every person was free to do what he or she needed to do to survive. As a result, everyone suffered from “continued fear and danger of violent death; and the life of man [was] solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.” In the state of nature, there were no laws or anyone to enforce them. The only way out of this situation, Hobbes said, was for individuals to create some supreme power to impose peace on everyone. Hobbes borrowed a concept from English contract law: an implied agreement. Hobbes asserted that the people agreed among themselves to “lay down” their natural rights of equality and freedom and give absolute power to a sovereign. The sovereign, created by the people, might be a person or a group. The sovereign would make and enforce the laws to secure a peaceful society, making life, liberty, and property possible.
Hobbes called this agreement the “social contract.” Hobbes believed that a government headed by
Starting in the 1600s, European philosophers began debating the question of who should govern a nation. As the absolute rule of kings weakened, Enlightenment philosophers argued for different forms of democracy.
Thomas Hobbes: Man of the State
Locke: The Reluctant Democrat
Montesquieu: The Balanced Democrat
Rousseau: The Extreme Democrat
Thomas Hobbes: Man of the State
In 1649, a civil war broke out over who would rule England—Parliament or King Charles
I. The war ended with the beheading of the king. Shortly after Charles was executed, an
English philosopher,
Thomas Hobbes
(1588–1679), wrote
Leviathan
, a defense of the absolute power of kings. The title of the book referred to a leviathan, a mythological, whalelike sea monster that devoured whole ships. Hobbes likened the leviathan to government, a powerful state created to impose order. Hobbes began
Leviathan by describing the “state of nature” where all individuals were naturally equal. Every person was free to do what he or she needed to do to survive. As a result, everyone suffered from “continued fear and danger of violent death; and the life of man [was] solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.” In the state of nature, there were no laws or anyone to enforce them. The only way out of this situation, Hobbes said, was for individuals to create some supreme power to impose peace on everyone. Hobbes borrowed a concept from English contract law: an implied agreement. Hobbes asserted that the people agreed among themselves to “lay down” their natural rights of equality and freedom and give absolute power to a sovereign. The sovereign, created by the people, might be a person or a group. The sovereign would make and enforce the laws to secure a peaceful society, making life, liberty, and property possible.
Hobbes called this agreement the “social contract.” Hobbes believed that a government headed by