Compare And Contrast Locke And Hobbes State Of Nature

In the following essay I will compare Hobbes’ account of the State of Nature, as depicted in his Leviathan, with Locke’s State of Nature put forward in his Second Treatise on Civil Government. Regarding the main differences, I will discuss how, for Hobbes, it is a state of war in which man is self-interested, and a government is required to oppose human nature. He concluded that there is no justice in nature, and notions of right and are wrong are mere social phenomena. Locke, on the other hand sees it as a state of equality, where man is fundamentally good. The need for Government is a need for human nature to be maintained, and there is a universal right to punish, which comes in three forms and allows for justice without war. I will†¦show more content†¦Locke is known for his appeal to reason, and see this as the way forward for harmony in state of nature, being equally able to regulate ourselves since reason teach us man â€Å"has not liberty to destroy hi mself, or so much as any creature in his possession, but where some nobler use than its bare preservation calls for it† . A glaringly obvious difference arises thus far then; anarchy for Hobbes is such that due to the constant danger of others attacking you and taking yours for their own, there is a constant state of aggression towards one another. Man is essentially self-interested and thinks only of increasing his possession and pleasures, behaving not out of reason but out of passion. For Locke, man has an unassailable moral compass that prevents him from doing what is wrong, and we know what is wrong from being made in God’s image. The two philosophers, therefore, understandably have very different ideas of justice in a state of nature. With no inviolable morality to speak of, acting purely from passion, man cannot draw upon it to settle disagreement or quarrel in a Hobbesian world. We require someone to enforce a justice system upon us, and to agree upon the statutes of that system. Otherwise, â€Å"where there is no common power, there is no law; where no law, no injustice. Force and fraud are inShow MoreRelatedCompare and Contrast the Views of the State of Nature Held by Hobbes and Locke.2718 Words   |  11 Pagesdefining the meaning of A State of Nature. As the likes of Hobbes, Rousseau and Locke wrote about it, it means man when he was natural in his state of nature, uninfluenced by society, and the temptations of today. There are no rights in a state of nature, only freedom to do as one wishes. It is a term used to illustrate the theoretical condition of civilization before the states foundation in Soc ial Contract Theories. 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