Who are Thomas Hobbes and John Locke?
Two very important political philosophers. These two, along with Jean-Jacques Rousseau are more or less the founders of the ideas of classical liberalism. Thomas Hobbes’ most famous work by far is The Leviathan. In Leviathan, Hobbes first outlines the idea of “the consent of the governed.” Hobbes says that without government, we would exist in the “state of nature.” Where Hobbes says life in the state of nature is .”…solitary, poor, nasty brutish and short.” The idea of Leviathan is that we, (the people) consent to have our lives ruled, to a certain extent, by a strong ruler (he uses here the biblical reference to the leviathan, the sea creature that swallowed Jonas.) As long as that rule agrees to enforce the laws we want, and provide for the common defense, we allow them to stay in power. John Locke has many impressive works, but his most well known is by far as the Two Treatises of Government. In these works, Locke outlines the rights of man, and how the consent of the governed wo
