Compare and contrast the two philosophers: John locke and Thomas Hobbes - Dissertation Example

Comparison and Contrast between John Locke and Thomas Hobbes: This paper is primarily based on the comparison and contrast between myriad philosophical theories presented by the renowned philosophers John Locke and Thomas Hobbes. Different philosophers have presented different theories and ideas to make the blurred image of various concepts like natural rights, property, democracy, society, security, laws, etc., understandable. They have differed on many aspects while asserting the existence and significance of these concepts.

Where Hobbes’s conception of natural rights meant to stimulate the people to abide by the natural laws, Locke crystallized the preceding conceptions of Hobbes into the new statement of the modern ideas. Where Hobbes’s theory about life, liberty, and possessions claims that it is the ultimate obligation of the state or sovereign to put the laws of nature into effect, Locke unequivocally differs from that conception. According to Locke, it is up to the individual rather than any state or authority to put the law of nature into effect and preserve himself along with preserving the rest of the mankind.

Where Hobbes distrusted in democracy and claimed that this pattern of government is fraught with risks of rebellion among subjects, Locke believed in majority rule. While Hobbes wanted absolute and undisputed power of the ruler, John Locke emphasized that limited rights should be assigned to the government. Where Hobbes wanted people to give up their every right and power to the absolute monarch, Locke differed from this view. Locke claimed that the only important functions of the government are to ensure external security, mutual harmony, and the protection of the social contract.

The purpose of this paper is to scrutinize myriad such differences between the conceptions explained by these two eminent philosophers.