Ideas Of Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, And Jacque Rousseau

Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, and Jacque Rousseau are all highly regarded as great political philosophers of their time. Many nations have used their strong rhetoric to create their own civil rights and liberties in order to get away from imperial monarchs. Although they had very different ideas compared to one another, their thoughts and essays are studied in depth when thinking about the world of politics today. If one was to look at these three philosophers in today’s political climate, many would view Hobbes as a conservative, Locke as a moderate, and Rousseau as a liberal. Depending on how one may feel about the world they live in today, one will have a very different opinion on these three philosophers, given the society and government†¦show more content†¦He sees fault and selfishness in the basic nature of people. Hobbes views the lack of morality in men instead of the potential of a harmonious society that could be. However, he believes that this can all be altered when a strong, central, and authoritative government is present. The idea of a government, or a social contract, to Hobbes is the notion of a collective agreement by the population to give up all freedoms and powers to a sole ruler. Hobbes believes that to negate all of the norms of negative human nature a strong government is needed to control rather than to represent its citizens and their sovereign nation. To do that Hobbes believes that an authoritarian monarchy would be the most legitimate and effective government. Under this government, a sole leader would dictate all of the rights and freedom of its people. To Hobbes, the government is there to impose laws and order in order to prevent a state of war. When reading Hobbes’ essays, I did not agree with the negative state of nature that he proposes. I do not see people as having a lack morals and therefore do not agree that a monarch is needed to â€Å"fix† all of these flaws. Therefore, due to Hobbes’ pessimistic attitude towards the state of nature and his need for an absolute ruler, I do not believe that Hobbes could create a strong, trusted, or favored government for the public of a nation. As I quickly realized that I did not agree with Hobbes’Show MoreRelatedViews of Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau815 Words   |  4 PagesArden Bentley AP Euro 3/9/13 Thomas Hobbes, John Locke and Jean-Racques Rosseau were philosophers who stated their belief of human nature and how we should govern mankind. Although Rousseau was born a different time than Hobbes and Locke, they all had a very strong influence on the way governments should function. They created a revolutionary idea of the state of nature, the way men were before a government came into play. 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