Thomas Hobbes and John Locke: Two Philosophers Compared

http://www.tomrichey.net/euro

Timestamps:

02:11 - Thomas Hobbes (Leviathan)
09:33 - John Locke (Two Treatises of Government)
13:00 - Compare/Contrast with Graphic Organizer

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.

This lecture is designed specifically for AP European History students studying Absolutism and Constitutionalism in preparation for their exam, but can also serve students in other disciplines, such as US History and Government, as well.

I use a picture in this video (Green Nature) that should be attributed to Rudolf Getel. I neglected to do so in the video, so I am doing so here.

Видео Thomas Hobbes and John Locke: Two Philosophers Compared канала Tom Richey