John Locke's Ideas Of Government: Thomas Hobbes And Karl Marx

714 Words3 Pages
Lawrence Hwang Mrs. Sauter World History/ Block D 12/15/14 Topic #1 Governments play a major role in today’s society. The governments’ function is to protect the rights of the people. But, how did we establish this idea? Around the 1650s-1850s, these ideas were introduced by philosophers. Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, and Karl Marx all had a major influence to today’s government. Hobbes and Locke had very diverse ideas and conclusions about the role of the government. Marx on the other hand, believed that all men were born free, but society shaped their lives. In the end, Marx thought that the proletariat would be most successful. Locke’s philosophy of government would not be as popular if there were no other ideas of government provided by Hobbes…show more content…
Locke’s ideas differed from Hobbes. Locke believed that people were naturally reasonable and moral. In his writing of the Two Treatises of Government, he wrote that everybody has natural rights such as the right to life, liberty, and property. Locke provoked people to form governments if they wanted to protect their natural rights. Locke states that the best government is the most lenient one, such as a government that does not have all the power and accepted all citizens. The government’s duty is to protect the people’s rights and if the government does not protect the people’s rights, the people can overthrow the government. Locke’s idea influenced many other leaders, such as Benjamin Franklin, aided in the American…show more content…
Adam Smith was very willing to make his ideas passed. Smith was known for his writing, The Work of Nations¸ and he stated that he wanted a free market. He believed that everybody can regulate free market and should be able to regulate business activity. Manufacturing, trade, and economic growth were related with the market of supply and demand during this time. With the government trying to regulate business, this made Smith a very strong supporter of the laissez-faire. The laissez-faire policy allows the free-market perform without any interruption from the government. Smith’s attitude was positive to the government and he felt like the government has the duty to “protect society, administer justice, and provide public
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