Locke, Hobbes, and Rosseau

Anirudh Katipally, Jack Bonadies, Will Fricke

INTRO:
John Locke, Thomas Hobbes, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau were 17th and
18th century political theorists, whose ideas were a large part of the
foundations of the American government. Their contributions are found in
Thomas Jefferson's justifications for revolution in the Declaration of
Independence through the checks and balances system in the Constitution.
LOCKE:

John Locke, born August 29th, 1632, in the village of Wrington, was a
political theorist whose work formed the basis of the theoretical arguments
of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. He was a highly
educated individual, attending prestigious schools like the Westminster
School in London, eventually moving on to Oxford University. After he
obtained a Master's in 1658 and later on a degree in Medicine in 1674, he
joined the retinue of Anthony Ashley Cooper, the 1st Earl of Shaftesbury.
He worked with him for a few years, even saving his life in a dangerous
liver surgery. Locke had to then flee to the Netherlands in 1673 after he
was put under suspicion during the Rye House Plot, a scheme to
assassinate King Charles II.
In 1689, Locke printed his magnus opus, the The Two Treatises of
Government, the latter of which contained many theories and themes that
later appeared in the foundations of American government. One such
theory was the state of nature, the idea of the state of humanity when it is
not governed. Unlike his contemporary Thomas Hobbes who believed that
man was dangerous and violent without government, Locke believed that
all men are created equal unless the Creator deems you fit to be a ruler,
and that without government men live to keep themselves happy. He also

believed that the state of nature was not violent and turbulent, but
cooperative and peaceful.
He argued that the reason that men join into a government is not because
they are vicious and cruel and must be kept under control by civil authority
as Hobbes would argue, but for the preservation of life, liberty, and
property. In a state of nature, land is universally shared, but once a person
puts their labor into land and develops them, it belongs to them. By doing
so, conflicts may arise over land, and government is necessary to protect
those rights. Also, even though men are not violent by nature, without
government there is always the possibility of invasion and disorder, and
government exists to free men from those worries and protect them and
what they own.
Another important contribution to the American cause for independence
and their future system of government was his social contract theory. He
believed that no matter the kind of government, monarchy or republic, there
had to be a contract between the people of a society and those who ruled
the society, in which the rulers guaranteed the rights of life, liberty, and
estate towards their people and made sure not to violate those rights. If
those rights were violated, Locke argued that the people had the right of
revolution and overthrow the government, as the social contract had been
violated, and the consent of the people had been withdrawn.
While not an initially popular work, the Treatises became very influential in
the thoughts of the colonists during the mid 18th Century, rising to
prominence after many of the ideals from the Treatises were invoked during
the debates over the Stamp Act.
Locke was able to return to England after the Glorious Revolution, and by
then had published the aforementioned Treatises as well as another
influential work, the Essay Concerning Human Understanding. He died in
1704, spending the last of his years living on an estate with a close friend.

HOBBES:

Thomas Hobbes, born April 5, 1588 in the English county of Wiltshire, was
an English philosopher and scientist who lived during the War of the Roses.
He was abandoned by his father at a young age and was left under the
care of his uncle, who also abandoned Hobbes and his siblings after a fight
with a clergyman. Hobbes was taken in during his teen years by well
educated individuals, who helped him receive an education of his own at
Oxford's Hertford College. It was not until 1629, when he found work in
Paris, that Hobbes began to write about political theory and philosophy. He
moved to Paris to work as a tutor, and did so until 1636, when the task was
finished. It was then that Hobbes joined a philosophy club in Paris, where
Hobbes became a regular debater. Five years after Hobbes's return to
England in 1637, England was in all out civil war.
Hobbes's most famous work, Leviathan, was published during the English
Civil War. The novel is a parody on what life would be like without strong
government. Influence by the bloodshed around him and evidence for the
need of strong government, Hobbes argues that in a state of nature, men
are "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short," and that it is every man for
himself with no rules. According to Hobbes, a man in a state of nature,
without government, has self-preservation as their primary objective and
will do anything to further their own survival, no matter the cost to others.
Hobbes felt that the role of the state was very limited. He advocated for a
government, run at the consent of the governed, whose only
responsibilities were the protection of the people, protection from foreign
enemies, and to provide police to ensure domestic tranquility. He believed
in the power or a single sovereign who had unlimited power in order to
maintain the peace, but who offered the most independence for individuals
possible. The people, according to Hobbes, do not have a right to rebel
against the government, because without the government, men will go back
into a state of nature, ensuring their destruction.

Many of Hobbes's views can be related to the English Civil War. During the
war, an estimated 190,000 people died of wounds and disease, equivalent
to 11 million Americans dying in today's terms. With so much bloodshed, it
is not surprising that Hobbes felt that a strong monarch and government
could prevent such horrors.

ROSSEAU:

Jean-Jacques Rousseau was a political philosopher and Freemason born

June 28 1712 in Geneva. In Geneva he witnessed the sham democracy
going on in Geneva where he and all other male citizens were promised
democracy yet a secret executive committee of the wealthy ruled all affairs.
His dad inevitably got into legal trouble with one of the wealthy families
which ruled and as a result fled leaving him with De Warens, a man he

came to idolize. He eventually left Geneva moving to Paris and meeting

Diderot a philosopher who he began to idolize. When he moved back again
to Geneva in 1754 he reconverted to Calvinism and began his work
on Discourse on the Origin of Inequality, and later in 1762 began work
on The Social Contract.
The Discourse on the Origin of Inequality was written in 1754 by Rousseau
in response to the question, What is the origin of inequality among men,
and is it authorized by natural law? Rousseau responds claiming that the
two main inequalities are natural inequality, differences in physical being,
and the much more harmful moral inequality which creates differences in
power and wealth. He claims that civil society is based upon moral
inequalitities. He also claims that the natural mans only care is self
preservation, there is no fear, anxiety, or jealously as opposed to Hobbes
opinion on natural man. When natural man is introduced into a society,
emotions such as competition, self-comparison, hatred, and urge for power
emerge. Property is the beginning of evil, claims Rousseau, yet at the
same times he realizes that property is going to stay and as a result it
needs to be protected. This is where civil society becomes necessary.

Published in 1762, The Social Contract, became one of Rousseau's most

famous works. In this book, Rousseau states the ideas that everyone is
born free into a state of nature which is very primitive. This state is better
left for the benefits of morality, necessity, and cooperation. For matters of
private property and competition law must be made. These benefits can be
given by joining a social contract giving up natural rights for the greater
good of general will. Rousseau stresses direct democracy in an assembly
similar to a city state in which only the people can control a legislative. The
main idea of his Social Contract is to give up personal natural rights living
in a state of nature for civil society with rights for the greater good
specifically the right of private property.

LEGACY:

John Locke's legacy is found primarily in the words of the Declaration of

Independence, as Thomas Jefferson included many of his ideas and
theories. The phrase that Jefferson used, "We hold these truths to be self
evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their
Creator with certain unalienable rights that among these are Life, Liberty,
and the pursuit of Happiness." This was taken from The Second Treatise,
as Locke states that all men are entitled to the rights of life, liberty, and
property. Jefferson also invoked Locke when he stated that it is the right of
the people to overthrow the government if the government violates the
rights of the people.
The legacy of Thomas Hobbes is based around the ideas found in
Leviathan. His avocation for weak government that only exists for
protection still influences policy around the world.

Rousseau, due to the fact that he was widely read by most of the founding
fathers, left a significant impact in the Constitution especially when it comes
to matters of state's rights and liberties.

VOCABULARY:
social contract - agreement and consent of people to be governed by their chosen form
of government
state of nature - the state of man without government
right of revolution - argument by Locke of the right of the people to withdraw consent to
be governed and overthrow the current form of government
Works Cited:
Uzgalis, William. "John Locke." (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy). N.p., 2012. Web. 19 Sept. 2012.
<http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/locke/>.
"Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy." Rousseau, Jean-Jacques. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Sept. 2012.
<http://www.iep.utm.edu/rousseau/>.

REVIEW QUESTIONS:
1. Who believed that the state of nature of man was peaceful and cooperative?
a) Locke
b) Hobbes
c) Rosseau
d) Montesquieu
2. Rousseau believed which to be more corrupt:
a) State of Nature
b) Civil Society
c) Neither
3. Hobbes believed the government to be the protector of all of these EXCEPT
a. the people
b. police
c. economic failure
d. foreign threats
4. Locke believed that the government established by the people could be a monarchy

or a republic
a) True
b) False
5. One of the main ideas of Rousseau's Discourse on the Origin of Inequality is:
a) There are natural and moral inequalities both which are equally dangerous
b) Property is a way to solve disputes and inequalitites
c) Moral inequalities are the main causes of conflict although natural inequalities can
also cause conflict
d) In a human's natural state he is unable to control feelings of jealousy and competition
6. What was one word Hobbes used to describe man in a state of nature?
a) violent
b) angry
c) short
d) tempered
7. What type of government did Hobbes advocate?
a) direct democracy
b) free republic
c) harsh dictatorship
d) absolute monarchy