#17

Both Hobbes and Locke believe in their ideologies than all men are born perfectly equal before any form of government and social contract CITATION Dou18 l 1033 (Roscoe, 2018). However, their difference comes in the types of political governances. According to Hobbes, absolute monarchy works best for governance of humans because of scarcity in goods leas to war, greed, and competition amongst men which need a forceful government to maintain order. In Hobbes theory, it is every man for himself which he argues that it results in constant conflicts with each other as everyone strives to defend his/her interests. He also believes that competition is the order of the day due to the scarcity of goods, but he believes all men have equal chances and the body count to fight for their interests.

Locke, on the other hand, believes that a unified government whereby all men participate in logic is better at creating self-interests and those of others. Locke believes that all men are equal before God and no absolute rule should be subject by other humans on others because it is against the natural order of things. According to Locke, absolutism would be the root of corruption, fear of power, and abuse of power. Locke bases his argument in the bible where after creation God did not give any form of authority over his children or the world. In the beginning, God created the earth and put a man in charge of all the earth’s resources but not fellow humans. No man is born with the title of a ruler.

Hobbes thinks of human nature as hostile CITATION Hun15 l 1033 (Chung, 2015). He believes that men are violent beings who are always in constant war with each other in the pursuit to satisfy oneself. He believes that humans are greedy and are always in competition to be better than the other human. For this reason, he believes that absolutism would serve human nature right in bringing order and peace upon human nature. Hobbes believes that life would be very short and brutal if absolutism were absent as a form of governance.

Naturally, it is not clear whether a human is good or evil. Some philosophers argue that humans are born good people, but their morals are eroded as a person grows up and engages with the society while others argue that humans are both evil but the norms and set rules in society put humans in check. They believe that good morals are learned. The perception of what is wrong and right is the determinant of good and evil. Even babies have a sense of what is wrong and right which complicates the whole debate of whether humans are born good or evil.

I agree with Hobbes’ thoughts on the nature of humans.

References

BIBLIOGRAPHY Chung, H. (2015). Hobbes’s State of Nature: A Modern Bayesian Game-Theoretic Analysis. Journal of the American Philosophical Association, 485-508.

Roscoe, D. D. (2018). The Promise of Democratic Equality in the United States. New York: Routledge.