#TeamLocke
I personally believe that in the battle of political philosophy, John Locke paints a more accurate picture of the human being and here is why:
Locke: Hobbes:
Man has rights by nature You give the government your rights
The state should only make sure justice is done The state knows what it's doing, whatever it does is just
If a ruler fights with his subjects, we have the We do not have the right to rebel
right to fight back
Society creates order and legitimizes the states Civil society is a creation of the state
We must allow one another to live in peace Men does not know good and evil, we can only live in peace through subjection to absolute power
I think Locke shows a much more realistic picture of what humans and human behavior is truly like. I think that humans are born with a sense of good and evil. This actually reminds me of a study I learned about in my PSY class last semester. This study was conducted by Yale University's "Baby Lab" to uncover the origin of morality. Long story short, they concluded that these little humans did have a sense of good vs bad even though at this young age, they can't truly comprehend their moral philosophies.
(Here's the link to the 60 Minutes with CBS if you'd like to read about this study)
Also, I do not think humankind is as compliant to absolute power as Hobbes suggests. He says the state is basically the ruler of us all and to live, we have given away our rights. I think the foundation of this country shows the opposite of this mindset. This nation (at least tries to) enforces the idea that man is born equal and man is born with rights which I think is fundamental in a functioning society.
Overall, in my opinion I think Locke takes the win.
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