Posted: May 17th, 2015

The ideas of Hobbes and Locke

The ideas of Hobbes and Locke

Order Description

“The Declaration of the Rights of Man” sets forth what it calls “the natural, inalienable, and sacred rights of man.” It says (article 3) that these are: “liberty, property, security, and resistance to oppression.” In article 1 it states that “Men are born and remain free and equal in rights.” and that “Social distinctions may be based only on common utility.” In article 6 it says that “All citizens have the right to take part, in person or by their representatives, in its (the law’s) formation,” and in article 17, that “no one may be deprived of property except when public necessity, certified by law, requires it, and that just compensation must be given in advance. Yet when the body that wrote this Declaration came to produce a constitution for France, voting rights and the right to hold office, were restricted according to how much property a citizen owned.

From what you have read of Thomas Hobbes’ Leviathan, and John Locke’s Second Treatise on Government, write an essay on how various parts of the “Declaration of the Rights of Man” were derived from the ideas of Hobbes and Locke.

IMPORTANT
Include in your discussion ideas about “natural rights,” “security,” “utility,” “property,” and “law.” Be sure to distinguish between the ideas of Hobbes and Locke, where they disagreed and agreed, when you discuss their influences.

PLEASE DO NOT INCLUDE ANY QUOTE CITATIONS or FOOTNOTES!!

References

T. Hobbes, Leviathan, chaps 13-21
www.gutenberg.org/files/3207/3207-h/3207-h.htm

J. Locke, Second Treatise on Government
www.gutenberg.org/files/7370/7370-h/7370-h.htm