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hobbes, locke, rousseau


This constant state of war is what Hobbes" believes to be man's original state of nature. According to Hobbes, man cannot be trusted in the state of nature. Limits must be put on freedom and inalienable rights. Hobbes lived in the 17th century, and wrote during the time of the English Civil War. His political views were influenced by the war. Hobbes perceived that by bringing back the monarch, there would be an end to the civil war. On the other hand, John Locke believes the original state of nature is a state of perfect freedom where men do whatever it is in their will and ability to accomplish. Every man has the liberty to arrange his life in the manner he chooses, however no man has the liberty to kill himself. Unlike Hobbes" nature of constant war, Locke's state of nature is peaceful, based on the fact that men do not want to risk their lives by constantly fighting. All men desire the right to live and respect that everyone is after the same thing. Locke has these views because he has more faith in people than Hobbes. Man, according to Locke, is governed by reason in the state of nature. Locke was influenced by the revolutionary upheaval in a different way than Hobbes. The war caused Locke to dislike violence and extremes. Stability was the central assumption of his thinking. Hobbes" era started its reasoning from the assumption that man was naturally vicious or wicked, while Locke's era was more optimistic about man's nature and reasoning. The original state of nature, according to Rousseau, is the perfect state for man, where he is free. In the original state, man lives alone in innocence where he is virtuous. Rousseau does not agree that man is an aggressive and greedy being in the original state of nature as Hobbes suggests. He argues that men are truly happy in the state of nature. Only when men become sociable, they become wicked. In Rousseau's Social Contract, man is depicted as a "stupid and unimaginative animal.


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