Political Philosophies of John Locke & Thomas Hobbes.
English philosopher Thomas Hobbes is now widely regarded as a truly great philosopher of the 17th century. His world renown fame can be attributed to what has now become known as his "social contract theory". With this theory in mind, Hobbes concluded that we as a people should submit to and abide by a sovereign power with absolute authority. His theories and philosophies are conveyed in his major political writings such as "The Elements of Law, Natural and Politic" published in 1650, "Philosophical Rudiments Concerning Government and Society" published in 1651 and "Leviathon" also published in 1651. These, along with Hobbes" other famous political writings have been collected in "The English Works of Thomas Hobbes" (11 volumes) and "Thomae Hobbes Opera Philosophica Quae Latina Scripsit Omnia" both edited by Molesworth. .
Hobbes" main quest was to construct a civil political system that would not come to a demise from within. Having lived through a time of civil war, he sought out to simultaneously maintain peace and political obedience among the population. To conquer his quest for a great political system Hobbes considered a peaceful state without government where the individual decides how to act and how to carry out disputes that may arise. "The condition of mere nature", is the term used by Hobbes to describe this state of perfectly private judgement. Taking into account the serious conflict including the dangerous competition for resources, Hobbes quickly imagines that the state of nature would rapidly accelerate to a state of war; all against all. To avoid this state of chaos, Hobbes speaks of submitting to political authority by laying down a part of the "right to all things" and further direct us to keep a covenant that established sovereignty. His main concern was to argue that in order to have an effective government, it must have absolute authority.
