Political Philosophers

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that Thomas Hobbes, John Locke and Nicoli Machiavelli represent a unique position, along with some surprising commonalities, in their commentaries on the abstract word "politics". The author points out that English philosopher Thomas Hobbes was born to an era beset by conflict and turmoil, not only from war with powerful Spanish empire but also the revolutionary theories of Copernicus, Galileo and Descartes; this influenced his belief that, if society is to gain control over this conflict, it must submit to some form of authority. The paper relates that Italian-born philosopher Nicoli Machiavelli, also born into a chaotic and tumultuous world, held a similar philosophy; whereas, seventeenth century John Locke believed in the basic goodness of humans with each person in his uniqueness contributing a vital component to society thus humanity achieves its own natural check-and-balance system.


Table of Contents
Introduction
Natural Man and the Need for Government
The Role of Government
The Structure of Government
Traits of the Ideal Government
The Place of the People

From the Paper:

"Perhaps John Locke's ideals of individual liberty and the pursuit of happiness can be thought of as predecessors to a modern-day democracy, whereas Machiavelli's and Hobbes' demands on the people to "lay down...rights" for the "common good" would be considered socialism. However, all three political theories stress self-preservation.
Hobbes conceded that a group of public representatives may be able to prevent accesses from a king. And Machiavelli, in a separate text from "The Prince", spoke of "the evil nature of...tyranny, oligarchy, anarchy." He also pointed out the weaknesses of democracies and principalities. Rather, he says, an affective government will "combine them all," one "keeping watch over the other.""

More papers on Political Philosophers:

• Comparison Essay # 61177 : "John Rawls: Political Philosopher"
• Analytical Essay # 132253 : "The Development of Liberalism as a Political Philosophy"
• Analytical Essay # 4445 : "Max Weber - A Political Philosopher"

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