This 6 page paper analyzes the precepts of Hobbes and Locke and specifically addresses their political opinions and viewpoints. This paper compares and contrasts these two philosophers and exmines their ideas of state power. Bibliography lists 2 sources.
Name of Research Paper File: D0_GSGoodEv.rtf
Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
perhaps a bit misjudged by history. There are those that assume his political ideology proposed that government become and all-encompassing force within the lives of individuals, and that in
this way, the ideals of Hobbes were for a totalitarian regime. Furthermore, Hobbes has been pegged as a man who advocated excessive liberalism.
However, a review of the facts will point out that while Hobbes was indeed a liberal and supported a liberal ideology, the truth of his premise was far
from the extremes which critics have pointed to. A review of his values and beliefs will reveal that Hobbes was merely advocating government which was given power by the
people for the purpose of using that power to help man maintain that which was of ultimate importance to him, and that was the safety of his own personal being.
Basically, Hobbes asserted that man was essentially vain and selfish by nature (Kahl, 2002). Therefore, in terms of good and
evil Hobbes believed that men would understand something as good or evil based upon how it affected them personally and their own self-interest, as opposed to how such a thing
would affect others (Kahl, 2002). So then, it only makes sense given this framework that people in general tend to pursue that which is in their own best interest.
Likewise, if someone else wants something of ours, this is when we resort to force or whatever means necessary to protect that which we believe will best serve our
own interests. So Hobbes vision of the world then was a very tenuous one. As everyone goes about trying to