Name:

Hour:

Thomas Hobbes
Thomas Hobbes based his theories of government on his belief that man was
basically greedy, selfish, and cruel. In his book, Leviathan, Hobbes states that life
would be a state of constant warfare without a strong government to control man's
natural impulses. He believed people would enter into a Social Contract to escape
from this. In the Social Contract, people would exchange most of their freedoms for
the safety of organized society. Once people entered into this contract, there was no
release. Hobbes did not believe in revolutions, and supported the idea of absolute
monarchs. He states that by doing this people are protected from the free reign of
murderers and thieves that prey on the weak in the state of nature.
Thomas Hobbes Quote:
" It is not wisdom but Authority that makes a law . . . I put for the general inclination
of all mankind, a perpetual and restless desire of power after power, that ceases
only in death . . . During the time men live without a common power to keep them
all in awe, they are in that conditions called war; and such a war, as if of every man,
against every man . . . The laws of nature . . . without the terror of some power to
cause them to be observed, are contrary to our natural passions."

Questions
1. From the quote: According to Hobbes, what force drives humans?

2. From the quote: How is this force to be controlled?

3. Does Hobbes believe that humans are naturally good or evil? Why or why not?

John Locke
Locke also based his theories on his assessment of human nature. However, Locke
believed that people could be reasonable and moral. In his book, Two Treatises of
Government, Locke explained that all men have Natural Rights, which are Life,
Liberty, and Property, and that the purpose of government was to protect these
rights. Furthermore, Locke states that if government did not protect these rights,
and became abusive, then the people had a right to revolution. Locke supported a
limited government that protected people's natural rights.
John Locke Quote:
"Liberty is to be free from restraint and violence from others . . . Good and evil,
reward and punishment, are the only motives to a rational creature: these are the
spur and reins whereby all mankind are set on work, and guided . . . Man . . . hath
by nature a power . . . to preserve his property that is, his life, liberty, and estate against the injuries and attempts of other men . . . The end of law is not to abolish
or restrain, but to preserve and enlarge freedom . . . All mankind . . . being all equal
and independent, no one ought to harm another in his life, health, liberty or
possessions."

Questions
1. From the quote: According to Locke, what is the most important human value?

2. From the quote: How will this value be preserved?

3. Does Locke think that humans are naturally good or evil? Why or why not?

Summary Questions:
1. How are the ideas of Thomas Hobbes and John Locke similar and different?

2. Would you rather live in a world governed by the ideas of Thomas Hobbes or John
Locke? Explain.