Thomas Vs Hobbes

Thomas Hobbes In 1588, a man named Thomas Hobbes was born. In 1679, he died, but much of his ideas life on, still disputed on to this day (Williams). Hobbes believed human nature to be selfish and power hungry. He believed the best way to control their urge is to put undivided and absolute power in a sovereign (Spielvogel, 451). He expressed this along with many other things in his book, Leviathan. Hobbes belief that science is the only reliable source of knowledge led people to belief he was an atheist, though he was not (Williams). His statements on god angered people of the church, and his statements on absolutism angered a great deal of people (Nickles). Thomas’s ideas led to him living most of his life in fear and fleeing (Williams).

The reason being that he believed humans are selfish and guided by a struggle for self preservation (Spielvogel, 451). Hobbes claimed there were three natural reasons for why humans fight; competition over material goods, general distrust, and the glory of powerful positions (Thomas). He believed a strong government was critical to protect people from their own selfishness and evil (Geib). He stated that if power was given to the people, it would make life “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short” (Thomas). Thomas let his opinion be known, that in order for a government to work effectively, one person must have absolute power (Lloyd). The necessity for absolute power from Thomas’s view came from the possibility of a slight disagreement erupting into something much larger. The government could come to a standstill or may even sprout into a civil war (Lloyd). To avoid governmental collapse and returning to the consequences of ruling by the people, the people should treat their monarch as an absolute ruler

A theory developed by Hobbes that is also associated with Locke and Rousseau is The Social Contract theory (Friend). The Social Contract was one of Thomas’s more widely accepted theories. It expressed that if a citizen wanted security, they must give up a bit of liberty, in most cases to a higher power that has to ability to provide security (Great). This philosophy was developed by Hobbes in the 17th century, the same century that marked the beginning of the Age of Enlightenment (Enlightenment). The Enlightenment was a period of time from the 17th to 19th century where traditional thought was questioned and new ideas, discoveries, revolutions were produced. People used their own reason and judgment to decide upon issues instead of accepting what their told (Enlightenment). The Social Contract coincided with ideas flowing from The Enlightenment. It can be interpreted that authority is not completely in one ruler, but in the consent of the people. If the governed decided to not give up their liberty, they could lose security. The Social Contract is just another example of how Thomas has shaped the world