Compare and contrast some of the ways in which major political thinkers have tried to draw the differences between authority of the state and freedom of the individuals.

Authors Avatar

Question.1: Compare and contrast some of the ways in which major political thinkers have tried to draw the differences between authority of the state and freedom of the individuals.

A state is an ancient political institution whose role is to regulate human relations in the society living under its laws. The state is the supreme law making (legislative) and law enforcing body, deriving its acknowledgement as a sovereign institution.’ State sovereignty ‘ emerged in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries used by Bodin and Hobbes to mean the state has supreme authority and power over all other social institution like families, associations, union or educational bodies. Freedom (right) is the ability of individuals to do whatever they want to without being limited.

There are a number of political thinkers who by their arguments tried to draw the boundaries between authority of the state and freedom of individuals. This essay with reference to the question provided will only focus on Thomas Hobbes, John Locke and Jean Jacques Rousseau. It will be structured in a way that will give the three theorists’ arguments then latter compare and contrast their arguments in respect of;

   

  • State
  • Human nature
  • Social Contract
  • Individual

As follows below;

THOMAS HOBBES

Thomas Hobbes a staunch royalist born in1588 lived mostly with noblemen; it is no wonder he became a friend and amanuensis of Francis Baconi. Due to the English civil war he spent a lot of time in exile. As a mathematical tutor Hobbes taught the future Charles II and also worked on the Leviathan (1651) in which he denotes the state processes supreme authority and power over all other social institutions.

Hobbes’ theory rests on the concepts of State of nature, Social contract and the notion of sovereignty. According to him the state of nature is under the rule of God and all individuals are equal but Hobbes emphasises that human nature is egotistic and selfish (self preservation due to collision of wants) something which culminates into fear for each other because they all want to pursue their interest, they are equal though! It is such fear for each other that exists in the state of nature where there is no effective law enforcement as the law of nature is unlimited that brings about the for security.

Hobbes argued that due to suspicion against each other (otomistic chaos) and great feeling of insecurity, there is need to establish a body that will be able to protect them from such fear and offer peace. This could only be possible when the individuals agreed among themselves to forego their rights through a social contract forming a higher authority that will protect them in exchange of their natural rights. What follows after the social contract is the establishment of the civil society in which the laws governing are made and enforced by the state using the sovereign power conferred by the individuals.

Join now!

According to Hobbes the established civil state backed by the sovereignty becomes the supreme authority with absolute power, therefore make the law and enforces it by such powers, this implies that whoever went against or offended the law was to be punished or convicted thus citizens will fear to break the law because of the penalty or the consequences, there by keeping law and order in the society which will definitely lead to social harmony.

JOHN LOCKE

Locke born in 1632 primarily an academician with subversive opinion. In 1667 Locke became a close friend and adviser to ...

This is a preview of the whole essay