Why Government?

Name:

Nope, Not the Cartoon Tiger (the other Hobbes)

Courtesy of New York Public Library. www.nypl.org

Thomas Hobbes was an English scholar and philosopher. He was born in

1588 and later became a tutor to a very wealthy family. As a tutor, Hobbes
had access to many books, traveled often, and met many important
thinkers. Hobbes lived in Paris through the English Civil Wars and was
interested in the nature of government. He wrote about many topics,
including politics, geometry, physics, religion, and history. Hobbes was one
of many scholars who tried to answer the question, “Why do we have
government?”
Thomas Hobbes

Poor, Nasty, Brutish, and Short

In such condition... the
Hobbes saw humans as naturally selfish and quick to fight. He believed
life of man, solitary,
that before there were governments, people lived in a state of nature.
In a state of nature, everyone had a right to everything. In order to get poor, nasty, brutish,
what they wanted, people would always be at war with everyone else. and short.
Nobody would produce anything like inventions, art, or even crops or
tools because they would be afraid other people would take them away. - T. Hobbes
Hobbes didn’t paint a very pretty picture of life without government.

Social Contract
Hobbes lived at a time when many philosophers were thinking about the
nature of government. He was one of the first of his era to discuss the
idea of a social contract between people and their government. A
contract is an agreement in which both sides agree to something in order
to reach a shared goal. In Hobbes’ view, people agreed to give up some
rights and power in exchange for protection. But for Hobbes, the social
contract was no two-way street. He believed that once the people agreed
to hand over power in exchange for protection, they lost the right to
overthrow, replace, or even question the government.

Leviathan
Hobbes wrote a book called Leviathan (luh-VI-uh-then) to explain how he
thought governments should work. Hobbes wrote Leviathan during the
English Civil War. He wrote about the social contract, and he spent much
of the book trying to show that a strong central authority was the only way
to avoid the evils of war. Hobbes believed a single sovereign, or ruler,
should have total authority over the people. He believed in a monarchy led
by a king. That’s because he thought that government would work best if
all the power rested in one place. No three branches for Hobbes!

Many political thinkers—including America’s Founding Fathers—built on

Hobbes’ ideas, especially the idea of a social contract. Hobbes was more
concerned with protection and order than rights. But people like John
Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau changed the focus from monarchy to
democracy—power with the people instead of a sovereign. They began to
see that people have rights that must be protected even from government.
Cover art from Leviathan.

Reading — Side A
Why Government? Name:

A Man with Many Hats

Courtesy of New York Public Library. www.nypl.org

John Locke was born in England in 1632, at about the same time that
Hobbes was about to begin his life’s work as a philosopher. Locke
considered becoming a minister, started his career as a doctor, but ended
up as a philosopher and political scientist. He had many interests and
produced a number of writings that influenced future leaders. One of those
leaders was Thomas Jefferson, who helped America gain independence
from Britain nearly 150 years after Locke was born. Jefferson studied
Locke’s writings, and Locke’s ideas show up in our own Constitution.
John Locke

The Blank Slate Experience

One of Locke’s books, called An Essay Concerning Human
Understanding, took over 18 years to write! In it, he says that people
are born with a mind like a tabula rasa, which means a blank slate
or page. During life, that blank slate gets filled up with the things a
person experiences with the five senses. He said people learn and
develop differently because they are exposed to different things. The
one thing people have in common is that they are human and share
Exposure to the World
a human nature that is the same for all people everywhere.

Natural Rights
People need...
Locke imagined a set of natural rights that human beings share.
 Life These are the right to life, liberty, and property. Life refers to the fact
that people want to live and will fight to survive. Liberty means that
people want to be as free as possible to make their own decisions.
 Liberty Property represents the fact that people want to own things that
help them survive, such as land, food, and tools. Locke believed these
 Property rights aren’t given to people—people are born with them.

Why do we need a government?

Locke also wondered what life would be like if people didn’t have a Government can...
government. Like Hobbes, he believed this would lead to a state of
nature with no rules, no one in charge, and no way for people to  Offer protection
protect their natural rights. He believed the purpose of government is to
end the state of nature and give people certain protections. But Locke  Provide services
also believed that governments should protect people’s natural rights.

Social Contract, Take Two...

Locke believed a government can only be legitimate, or valid, if it is
e Th
Th ent Peo e based on a social contract with citizens. For Locke, the social contract
m
v ern p le between a government and its people worked both ways: The people
G o agree to give up some freedoms, but only if the government agrees to
protect everyone’s rights. If the government fails to deliver, the people
have the right to revolt like the colonists did during the American
Revolution. This two-way exchange between citizens and government
was very different from Hobbes’ view.
Reading — Side A
Why Government? Name:
A. Sketch it out. Use words and images to create cartoons showing the ‘big ideas’ of Hobbes and Locke.

Right to anything
People are selfish No rules
People will fight to Rights are natural: to live-
protect or take to be free, own property
property People can learn
War is constant How would it People can be resonable
People want freedom
Fear is constant look? What’s
No technology or art People will fight only to
happening? protect natural rights
Picture: People
physically fighting What’s not Picture: People
over things. happening? discussing an
issue over property.

People give up rights Government and

to the power citizens work together.
Government protects People give up some
people's safety freedoms to
Government knows government.
best and should not Who is Government must
be questioned involved? protect people's rights
Government sets rules
Power rules What is being to ensure natural rights
Picture: A single
exchanged? Picture: A handshake
ruler above the
people. between government
and people.

About the people. Protects rights.

About the rulers. Government
Protects people. changes based on whether or not it is
No there is no change once decided.
Government is absolute. Who is the protecting the people's rights.
Rights are absolute. Picture: A government
Picture: A King or government? with people watching closely.
Emperor Does it ever
change?

Activity p.1
Why Government? Name:
B. Compare & Contrast. Write the letter of each word or phrase in the correct part of the diagram.

Social State of
A. Natural Rights F. No laws Contract Nature
B. Life G. Laws e,g,h,j
C. Liberty H. Compromises are made a,b,c,d f,I

D. Property I. You are on your own!

E. Government J. Rights are protected.

C. What’s the Connection? Explain how each set of words are related.

1. Life / Liberty / Property 2. State of Nature / War 3. Government / Social Contract

Life, liberty and property In a state of nature, A social contract

are all natural rights that people are constantly in a happens when the
people are born with, state of war because people agree to give
according to Locke. there are no laws. up some power and
rights in exchange for
protec- tion and
services.

D. Hobbes vs. Locke. Decide whether Hobbes and Locke would agree about each statement.

There are no laws in a People need government to Rulers should have com-
state of nature, and peo- create laws, protect citizens, plete power and should not
ple are always at war. and provide services. be able to be kicked out by
citizens.

Hobbes & Locke would: Hobbes & Locke would: Hobbes & Locke would:
 Agree about this  Agree about this  Agree about this
 Disagree about this  Disagree about this  Disagree about this

If there is a statement where Hobbes and Locke would disagree, explain their differences:

Hobbes thought a monarchy was best, and that the people could never overthrown the sovereign
power. Locke believed that the government should be overthrown by the people once it failed to
serve and protect them.

20 Activity — Side B