Thomas Hobbes and John Locke: Two Philosophers Compared

oh hey their education taught sorry is getting a little psyched up with some Mastodon gonna talk to you today about two very important early modern European philosophers Thomas Hobbes and John walke now this one goes out to at one Republican seventy-nine who asked on Twitter hello I was wondering if I could request a video on Thomas Hobbes versus John Locke my test is coming up at the end of this week alright so there you have it so Hanson walk you've probably already heard about the Divine Right of Kings if you haven't check out my video lecture on that but you've likely been exposed to shot Bossuet however you say that it's French and he was a proponent of divine right absolutism now this isn't going to be about boss wit okay this is going to be about something different both Hobbes and Locke reject the idea of divine right and Hobbes is going to advocate for absolutism like also it does but it's going to be a philosophical absolutism where John Locke is going to advocate for constitutional government a limited government and he is going to use both philosophical and biblical justifications for his argument for constitutionalism so Hobbes and Locke are both going to give us two versions of a social contract now keep in mind that Rousseau wrote a book called the social contract but he's not the first philosopher to address this subject what the social contract essentially is it covers two things first of all what is the origin of government how did people decide to have government in second how much authority should the state have over the individual and Hobbes and Locke are going to sort of agree on the first part but they're going to disagree on the second part let's start off with Thomas Hobbes wrote a book called Leviathan in 1651 remember that Leviathan same as Mastodon second album which I'm kind of introducing you to little by little in this lecture and in Leviathan Hobbes is defending philosophical absolutism the idea that absolute government is not best because it's mandated by God it's best because well because it's best what Hobbes explained to you why now what is a Leviathan a Leviathan is a sea monster mentioned several times in the Old Testament and it's mentioned in detail described in very much detail in the book of Job specifically in job 41 now let me go ahead and read a little bit to you from job 41 with a little bit of macedon theme music you know mind can't style draw out Leviathan with a hook or his tongue with a cord well he make many supplications unto thee will he speak soft words unto thee the answer to all those questions is unequivocally no the Leviathan is not going to be caught with a hook and he's not going to beg you for things and he's not going to make requests wilt thou play with him as with a bird or wilt thou bind him for that maidens no don't try that I wouldn't recommend it lay thine hand upon him remember the battle do no more you may try to cross the Leviathan but you will learn your lesson and if you battle with that Leviathan one time you will not do it again now Hobbes is writing about this Leviathan because this is the sort of ruler that he would like to see the sort of ruler that he thinks is necessary in order to keep us from destroying each other Hobbs view of the world before government was a state of nature which Hobbes refers to specifically as a state of war a war of all against all those of you who have trouble with the English language and would like to see it translated into Latin here it is bellum Onam contra omnis a war of all against all but if you could write this on your AP euro frq or something like that that would really make an impression bellum hominem contra ominous and Hobbes believed that before government life in the state of nature in the state of war all against all that life was solitary poor nasty brutish and short five things solitary poor nasty brutish and short Ritchie what's that pony doing up there well this was my pony before a janitor erased it at the end of last year rest in peace my pony but this actually comes from an acronym that my students came up with if it helps you great if it doesn't whatever super ponies need back scratches super ponies that's a super pony right there so super ponies need back scratches solitary poor nasty brutish and short so the idea here is that we need a ruler who is strong enough that he is beyond challenge that people think I could not possibly mess with that guy because that is the only thing that keeps us from tearing each other apart that this Leviathan who is so large you can see him looming large over everything larger than the city and you see that his garments his chainmail is made of people and he's so big as to be beyond challenge and that will make us behave ourselves when we otherwise would not and it will keep us from destroying one another and this comes down to Hobbes's view of human nature which really isn't that far away from John Calvin's who said that man is totally depraved and incapable of really doing any good unless his heart is quickened by the holy spirit and yes that's kind of the inspiration for the Calvin and Hobbes cartoon these two philosophers one religious one political that tend to think like each other when it comes to human nature they have a very pessimistic view of who we are then again we might say oh well yeah I trust people I generally think that people are good kind of in the vein of the Italian Renaissance humanists but Hobbes asked if you think so much of people and you trust your fellow man so much why do you lock your door everybody says oh yeah think about it how about give me your social security number just send me an email TR at Tom Ridge net tweet it to me at Tom Ritchie you let the whole world see it I mean what do you have to fear by giving out your private information wait what you you don't trust me good call because really if it weren't for the law and all of that stuff I would be the first person to slit your throat in bring your blood for breakfast actually I wouldn't drink your blood because that would make me a vampire and if I were a vampire I would not be able to drink this but anyway yeah humans can be pretty cruel at times now keep in mind that Hobbes is specifically riding against the backdrop of the English Civil War Hobbes saw absolute government in England break down and lead to this long civil war at the end of which the king is beheaded we see the end of civil government as we know it and so Hobbes didn't really see any evidence that people can live together without some sort of absolute authority binding them down so remember that Hobbes doesn't see this as God wills absolute government but just the absolute government is the only way that we will survive without destroying each other okay now let's talk for a bit about John Locke's philosophical constitutionalism constitutionalism as we've already talked about in another lecture is the limitation of government by law and constitutionalism is what eventually won out in england and john locke was its biggest advocate he outlined his constitutionalist philosophy in his two treatises of government published in 1689 remember that title great frq fodder and he is writing in defense of constitutionalism and in this john locke is talking about natural rights which he believed that God gave to Adam in the book of Genesis so keep in mind that Locke is using a biblical justification for his argument in addition to logic and so he believed that God gave Adam natural rights and thus gave these natural rights to every human being these natural rights are life liberty and property now remember pursuit of happiness this is Jefferson trying to change the wording around a little bit so that he doesn't get caught on turnitin.com or whatever so he's only partially plagiarizing Locke but these natural rights are given to human beings but it's very difficult for us to defend them in the state of nature I can say all I want that I've got a right to be alive I've got a right to be free I've got a right to the fruits of my labor but in the state of nature somebody can just come take that away from me so people get involved in a social contract in order to preserve what they can of their life liberty and property and it's the government's job to protect these natural rights the whole point of government is so that we can enjoy these things to a greater extent than we would if we didn't have government so this government can be limited by law and furthermore if this government is not preserving the lives the liberties the properties of their citizens then the citizens have a right of revolution they have a right to overthrow the government this is why Jefferson is making so much use of Locke in the Declaration of Independence this is all about Locke's philosophy that when government has failed to protect natural rights then the people can revert back to the state of nature they may alter or abolish their government as Jefferson says so that they can recreate the government in a way that will better protect the lives liberties and properties of people now keep in mind that John Locke is riding against a different backdrop while Thomas Hobbes was writing against the backdrop of the English Civil War John Locke was riding against the backdrop of the glorious and almost bloodless revolution comparatively bloodless as far as revolutions are concerned but this was a revolution that didn't see a lot of fighting the King just was kind of OWL stood there's a William the 3rd of William and Mary Thames and he's on his horse acting like he's about to go to battle but sorry William there's no battle well it's graphic organizer time if you'd like you can download a copy of this graphic organizer from my website WWE at slash euro or you can just follow along with us we are going to compare and contrast Hobbes and Locke in a simple graphic organizer now first of all we're going to make some comparisons keep in mind that when ap asks us to compare they're asking for similarities so let's talk first about how Hobbes and Locke are similar first of all the original state of mankind was the state of nature or the state of war as Hobbes would call it and is government established by divine right or by social contract it's established by a social contract so in both of these Hobbes and Locke are in agreement now how governments are established they agree well what do we do from then that is where they disagree now we're going to contrast keep in mind that when ap says to contrast they want differences so why government Hobbes says that we have government because this is to protect us from ourselves while Locke says that the purpose of government is protect our natural rights of life liberty and property they disagree on this point as far as where sovereignty resides where is the ultimate power do people give up their sovereignty when they instituted government does government rule over them or is government their agent Hobbes says that people give up sovereignty for their own good to an absolute ruler and they cannot take it back when they have created a government they have crossed a Rubicon so to speak while Locke says that the people maintain sovereignty that the people created government to protect their natural rights and if that government ceases to protect their natural rights in a way that's better than if they were in the state of nature then they have a right to overthrow the government so that's a point of disagreement can a government's power be limited Hobbes says no Locke says yes so this makes hobbes an absolutist and Locke a constitutionalist when government is not doing what it's supposed to do do we have a right to overthrow it Hobbes who says that sovereignty resides the monarch says that no there is no revolutionary right whereas John Locke says that if there is a long train of abuses and usurpations if government is not doing as good of a job protecting our natural rights as we could do ourselves then yes we do have a revolutionary right well that about sums it up for Hobbes and Locke if you like what you heard want to hear more historical goodness then please subscribe to my channel I'll be posting more stuff soon for those of you preparing for the AP European history exam stay tuned for some recommend videos until next time you

Channel: Tom Richey

Views: 784,481

Rating: 4.8267136 out of 5

Keywords: Thomas Hobbes and John Locke, Thomas Hobbes, Hobbes Leviathan, John Locke Philosophy, Two Treatises of Government, Hobbes Absolutism, Thomas Hobbes Philosophy, Philosophies of Government, Absolutism and Constitutionalism, Hobbes AP Euro, Locke AP Euro, Tom Richey, Tom Richey European History, AP Euro Review, AP Euro Absolutism, AP Euro Locke, What does John Locke say?, John Locke (Author), thomas hobbes social contract theory, thomas hobbes leviathan summary

Id: N2LVcu01QEU

Length: 16min 32sec (992 seconds)

Published: Fri Nov 08 2013

Reddit Comments

[u/R390452]

Mr. Richey discusses the works of Thomas Hobbes and John Locke, two of the most influential philosophers of government in the seventeenth century. Hobbes and Locke were both influential in the development of social contract theory. In Leviathan, Thomas Hobbes advances the idea of a permanent social contract in which people give up sovereignty to a governing authority in order to avoid the state of nature, which is a state of war with "every man against every man." After the Glorious Revolution, John Locke responded with his Two Treatises of Government, in which he argued that people enter into a social contract and form a government in order to preserve their natural rights (life, liberty, and property). In Locke's social contract, the people retain sovereignty and reserve the right to alter or abolish the social contract if the government fails to protect their natural rights. I spend the first part of the lecture providing a summary of Hobbes' Leviathan, followed by a summary of Locke, then I use a graphic organizer to compare and contrast Hobbes' and Locke's social contract philosophies, noting key similarities and differences between the two theorists.

Mastodon's Leviathan album is brought in from time to time just because it's awesome.

Timestamps:

• 02:11 - Thomas Hobbes (Leviathan)

• 09:33 - John Locke (Two Treatises of Government)

• 13:00 - Compare/Contrast with Graphic Organizer

[u/Defa1t_]

Anyone else thinks Hobbes (on the left) looks like a really old senile Louis CK?