How Did John Locke's Influence On Government

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The object of this essay is to compare and contrast Thomas Hobbes and John Locke’s ideas in the state of nature and how it has an influence on government. Both Hobbes and Locke write similar when referring to the state of nature, they raise the idea that man can exist without government, but that it comes with risks. Hobbes speaks of the nature itself, while Locke makes examples to prove it. The Leviathan and Second Treatise of Government help explain Hobbes’s and Locke’s ideas and the points they are trying to make.
Hobbes’s Leviathan paints an overall picture that human beings are equal. Hobbes believes that men are born equal to one another. Humans are equal in both body and mind, but you can find some differences in them. Hobbes uses the example that everyone has the ability to kill somebody else, such as the weakest of men can kill the strongest. From equality arises a state of war between all men. “From this equality of ability ariseth equality of hope in attaining our ends. And therefore if any two men desire the same thing, which nevertheless they cannot both enjoy, they become enemies” …show more content…
He puts down the idea that man has an innate idea in regards to his actions and instead claims that man behaves based on his desires in life. As humans we have problems with one to one agreements because everyone seeks power for themselves. Hobbes believes it is a state where rights and contracts are absent which prevents a social society from forming. Man in the state of nature is selfish. (Bald, Margaret) There is a social contact when individuals give up that self-interest for a common purpose, “every man for every man.” (Hobbes, 71) We ought to seek peace and when peace fails, we ought to seek

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