Hobbes Vs. Locke
The Nature of Man
“Man is made by his belief. As he believes, so he is.” –Goethe.
The nature and rights of men has been, and perhaps always will be the great elusive question that will forever remain unanswered. There have been many conjectures and theories concerning them, but a true answer has never been produced. However, there have been those exceptional men who have led us closer to finding an answer to this eternal question. These men were Thomas Hobbes and John Locke. Their works, “Leviathan” and “Two Treatises of Government”, respectively, have done much by shining insight into the true nature of man. In spite of their link, these two men had somewhat polar views on the nature of man.
Thomas Hobbes was perhaps the more pessimistic, morose, and realistic of the two. His views on humanity were rather bleak and depressing. This can be evidenced by this from Leviathan, “For such is the nature of men, that howsoever they may acknowledge many others to be more witty or more eloquent, or more learned; Yet they will hardly believe there be many so wise as themselves: For they see their own wit at hand, and other men’s at a distance.” In essence, what Hobbes was saying was that men were born selfish, greedy, and miserable. While we may outwardly praise others on their commendable efforts, we are surreptitiously telling ourselves that we are superior to them. Then, it is no wonder that Hobbes goes onto say that, “ … That there be no Propriety, no Dominion, no Mine and Thine distinct; but onely that to be every mans, that he can get; and for so long, as he can keep it.” Basically, he says that nobody really owns anything rather; it was only yours for as long as you could hold onto it.
On the other hand, while not exactly the perfect picture of optimism, John Locke’s views were at least more uplifting. He believed that men were born with clean slates, and that the greed and selfishness Hobbes referred to was a direct...
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