Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679): His Life and Some Ideas

Thomas Hobbes viewed human nature as violent.

A political absolutist, Hobbes is described as among the proponents of liberalism. His father, also named Thomas, was a vicar in England who left his children in the care of their rich paternal uncle. This episode somehow echoes the five adjectives he used to depict the nature of human beings – “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short” (Pratt 1). It also forebodes his idea that the right and need for security is an individual’s primary concern which only an authoritative body or the monarchy could provide (Encyclopaedia Britannica 970).  

‘State of Nature’: A Brief Look into the Views of Thomas Hobbes and John Locke

Famous works of Thomas Hobbes and John Locke

Regarded as two of the world's great philosophers and political thinkers, Thomas Hobbes and John Locke espoused beliefs about human nature that are seemingly contradictory. Yet, according to academics Jeffrey Pratt and Steven Forde, Hobbes and Locke have several intersecting ideas. Nevertheless, their teachings still have differences.