Rousseau was not a statesman or a powerful leader of any mass party. That is that any man can dominate others, regardless of the means used — be it strength or cunning. An alternative course of action will lead the body politic to destruction. When none else can protect them. In spite of this, the fact remains that he had sufficient weakness for absolutism because he thought that this could save a turmoil society. We may say Rousseau thought of a state in the line of the Greek city-state.
Thomas Hobbes and John Locke were two of the great political theorists of their time. Hobbes, however, believes that humans live in a state of war and fight with each other constantly. The central theme of Hobbesian thought system was individual and his interests. This opinion of Gough is controversial. Only through the membership of state can individuals become moral persons and exercise moral principles and objectives. If necessity arises to change anything about the g.
It is also a state of perfect freedom, because the individual cannot depend on anyone. Both Hobbes and Locke were passionate about politics, and they both wanted to promote the common good. There are implied agreements by which people form nations and maintain social order. They were philosophers in the sense of Saint Thomas rather than Sir Issac Newton. The latter indicates how much a practical man Locke was. These laws essentially come down to the fact that it is rational for us to seek peace in the state of nature, which would apparently conflict with the entire scenario he has so far presented.
Rousseau takes a singular stance that stands out from every point of view, it is therefore in opposition to the works of Hobbes and Locke, because according to Rousseau, they transpose civil rights in the state of nature. This much Locke has said that the same may be vested in: a Legislature b The people c The community The last word I. It is obvious he does not view man in a high fashion. Only an absolute power could achieve that objective. People will judge whether their life, liberty and property are adequately protected and pursuit of happiness is enhanced.
Hobbes was distrusting of glory-seeking, seeing it as a cause of human misery Ibid. This paper will show the largest differences and some of the similarities between Thomas Hobbes' Leviathan and John Locke's Second Treatise on Civil Government. The first suggestion of this group and how it differs, is called Pantheism. He believed we are always in competition with each other for the best food, shelter, money, and so on. He attributed sovereign power to the legislature. Faced with the disorder as a result of their dominance, the rich offer to themselves and to the poor, the institutions that govern them by wise laws.
In other words, the sovereign power is vested in the general will. That we have government to secure those rights that all men are meant to possess. Again, that there was only one contract by which each individual surrendered all his rights, and the authority of the sovereign to whom rights had been surrendered were strongly reminiscent of Hobbes. I agree with Locke that rights are God given and independent of the government. Machiavelli believed that internal unrest, under certain conditions, can lead to improvements of the institutions that function to check the power of various factions 92. The problems associated with this search for felicity and aversion of the undesired do not end here though. On the other hand Locke was fortunate enough to be writing after these events and was so unappreciative of the realities of the chaos brought by conflicting claims to authority and so reached his positivist position on the state of nature and the essence of man.
His support of absolute monarchs stemmed from his belief that men, in nature, acted in their own self-interests and could not be trusted to act for the good of society. For him, the domination of the sovereign over society advised by Hobbes would be abhorrent. The implication is, if the existence of community is not threatened the community will go on exercising its power. He thought for development not for any other purpose. Locke published his Second Treatise of Government in 1689 anonymously as it an.
Yet it cannot be logically possible for most men to be more wise than most others. Human nature and mind have made it legitimate and permanent. John Locke 1632-1704 , held a more positive view of human nature. The view Locke had on the state of nature is conceptually different. Harmon, Sabine and Ebenstein are of opinion that he was not an out-and-out collectivist thinker.
The sovereign must do something for the individuals and in exchange of that he can demand obligation. Social contract binds the people and the government together. Of course, in general terms, both carry almost the same idea. It is a term used to illustrate the theoretical condition of civilization before the states foundation in Social Contract Theories. In short, it enhances the state of nature rather than civil society. Rousseau tells us that it is private property that ends the state of nature.