Question

Thomas Hobbes claimed that we live under a social contract, in which we give up some rights to the government in order to protect the rest of our rights.  For example, we give up our right to kill people in return for the government protecting us from being killed or, should it happen, punishing the killer.   John Locke claimed that we only loan rights to the government, which can be taken back via the ballot box or, if necessary, by revolution if the government governs against the people.  Furthermore, he claimed that people had "certain inalienable rights" such as life, liberty, and the pursuit of property (in the sense that one has the right not to have one's property confiscated).   How did these ideas radically change the world, which had mostly been ruled by royalty who inherited titles and claimed a divine right to rule?

Answer 1

Thomas Hobbes' ideas were a proclamation in defense of modern absolute monarchy. In his book, "Leviathan", wrote in 18 century, he uses the metaphor of a biblical maritime monster in order to show the importance of a powerful state that governs different sectors of society. This monster-the state-, he argues, is the result of the social contract between individuals, made in order to avoid the state of nature in which humans behave in a barbaric and savage way: Homo homini lupus (man is a wolf to man). These ideas were fundamental to the development of the modern concepts of state and sovereignty. Because of the value he gave to absolute monarchy as a form of a strong state, his ideas were rooted in royalty's claim of a divine right to rule.

On the other hand, John Locke is considered the father of liberalism, since in his philosophy he stressed the importance of freedom of individuals to work the land, to have property and the relevance of religious tolerance in a time of constant religious war. He was an essential thinker of early capitalism and his work was fundamental for the future development of American political and economic system.