Analyzing the Ideas of Locke and Hobbes on the State of...

One of the long pondered debates among political philosophers concerns the state of nature concept underlying much of social contract theory, with the esoteric term being used to describe the hypothetical human condition which logically preceded the institution of organized government. Engaging in a rigorous deconstruction of this hypothetical condition, one defined by a societal structure in which mans rights are not protected by the power of the state, provided political philosophers like Thomas Hobbes and John Locke with ample opportunity to indulge their faculties for elevated thought, with Hobbess Leviathan and Lockes Second Treatise on Civil Government standing as enduring testaments to this philosophical conundrum. Both Hobbes and Locke applied clinical logic and objective analysis, diffused through their distinctly disparate worldviews, to elucidate stirring but separate visions of the state of nature and mans place within it. Whereas Hobbes grounded his writing on the state of nature in a pragmatic appraisal of humanitys craven nature, Locke viewed the notion as the embodiment of mans promise and potential. A critical analysis of the works of Hobbes and Locke can be used to refine ones own conception of the state of nature, because each philosopher offered a uniquely informed perspective on a query which is common to all of us. According to Gregory S. Kavkas comprehensive essay on Hobbes and the state of nature, entitled Hobbess War of All AgainstShow MoreRelatedJohn Locke: Founding Father of Modern Era Liberalism1444 Words   |  6 PagesThomas Hobbes, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and John Locke are all great thinkers who were greatly influential in forming philosophies that would affect the future of politics. By analyzing each philosopher’s ideology, we can identify which thinker’s theory reflected modern era liberalism the most. 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