Philosophy of the Modern Age

The Social and Political Ideas of Thomas Hobbes and John Locke

Francis Bacon emerged as the founder of the materialist line in the development of English philosophy, while Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) became the systematizer of Baconian materialism. He received his education at Oxford, and from an early age, he had a remarkable command of Greek and Latin. He traveled to the Continent several times and had personal contacts with Pierre Gassendi (1592-1655), Galileo (1564-1642), and met Descartes in 1648.

His first work, Elements of Law, was published in 1640. Following this, Hobbes conceived a plan for his philosophical system, which he termed The Foundations of Philosophy. To realize this plan, from 1642 to 1658, Hobbes published three parts of his system: On the Citizen, On the Body, and On Man. During this period, Leviathan (full title: Leviathan, or the Matter, Form, and Power of a Commonwealth Ecclesiastical and Civil) was published in 1651, the largest work that encapsulated all the main ideas of the trilogy. After the death of Oliver Cromwell, who had supported Hobbes, his position deteriorated, leading to persecution and bans on Leviathan, which was publicly burned in Oxford three years after Hobbes's death.

In constructing his system, Hobbes fundamentally delineated philosophy from theology. The concept of truth pertains solely to philosophy, which he equates with science. While he does not deny theology, which along with religion constitutes a unified whole, he places it outside the realm of philosophy. Theology requires no rational analysis.

At the center of Hobbes's focus was man. On one hand, man is a natural body like any other; on the other, he is a moral and spiritual being, the creator of various artificial entities, the architect of culture, and the subject of politics. As a representative of mechanistic materialism, Hobbes approached the nature of man and society from a mechanical perspective. He formulates life as a purely mechanical and automatic process, asserting that “life is merely the motion of limbs,” where the heart acts as a spring, the nerves as threads, and the joints as wheels that transmit motion throughout the entire machine of the human body.

To characterize the moral and political aspects of humanity, Hobbes employs the notion of human nature. In revealing this nature, he prominently highlights the natural human egoism rooted in the instinct for self-preservation, which he identifies as the foremost of all goods: for nature has arranged that all wish for their own good. This egoism also underpins the creation of societies: “Every society is created either for profit or for glory, that is, out of love for oneself and not for one’s neighbor.”

One of the fundamental principles of human life is the complex interplay of interests. This, in turn, hinders the establishment of a science of law as social justice. Doctrines in this realm are perpetually contested both by pen and sword, while teachings about lines and figures remain unchallenged, for the truths concerning them do not impinge upon human interests. “I have no doubt,” writes Hobbes, “that if the truth that the three angles of a triangle contradict someone’s right to power or the interests of those who wield power... the doctrine of geometry would be not only disputed but would lead to the burning of all geometry books.”

In his moral philosophy, Hobbes rejected higher religious and theological categories of good and evil, which he posited as divinely bestowed upon humanity. He contended that these terms merely express situations encountered by individuals in specific circumstances. The term "good" signifies everything that pleases, benefits, or is desired, while "evil" denotes its opposite.

Regarding the phenomenon of freedom—a vital characteristic of human existence—Hobbes adopts a naturalistic stance, attributing freedom to all that exists. In his view, the concept of freedom can be applied to irrational beings and inanimate objects just as readily as to rational entities. Even water is free when the vessel containing it is broken. For humans, the matter is somewhat more complex, as they may be free in one regard and unfree in another. The issue is resolved dialectically: the concept of freedom does not contradict necessity but complements it: “Freedom and necessity are compatible. The river’s water, for instance, possesses not only freedom but also the necessity to flow in its channel. We see the same compatibility in actions carried out voluntarily by humans. Indeed, since voluntary actions arise from human will, they stem from freedom; yet since every act of human will, every desire and inclination, arises from a cause, and this cause is linked to another in a continuous chain... they also arise from necessity.”

The starting point of Hobbes's reflections on social order and the state is the "natural state of humans." This state is characterized by “the natural inclination of humans to mutually harm one another, an inclination that emerges from their passions, but primarily from arrogant self-love, the right of all to all.” Ultimately, “the natural state of humans is one of conflict, and not simply conflict, but a war of all against all.” In this war, there can be no victors; each threatens the other, and the only escape is to establish society.

Society can only rest upon an agreement of interests, and consensus regarding these interests can be framed in the form of a contract. However, for a contract not to remain an artificial and hence unstable construct, there must be something further that strengthens and solidifies the agreement. This is the public authority that restrains and directs human actions toward the common good. Hobbes deemed the only path leading to the creation of such authority to be the transfer of all power and strength to a single individual or a group of individuals. This “public authority” must be based on a voluntary relinquishment of the right to self-possession. Thus arose this great “Leviathan”—the state. The state substitutes societal laws for natural laws, thereby limiting natural rights with civil rights, which are not mystical. They are the same natural rights, merely transferred to the state. Hobbes identified himself as a proponent of a strong absolutist state authority.

John Locke (1632-1704) also graduated from Oxford. Between 1664 and 1665, he engaged in diplomatic work on the continent, and subsequently continued his studies in philosophy and natural science. After a few years, he once again participated in political life. Following the revolution of 1688, he preferred a solitary existence to dedicate maximum effort to science. Locke's principal works emerged after the revolution, including An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, Two Treatises of Government, and Some Thoughts Concerning Education.

Locke stands as a prominent representative of empiricism in English philosophy, which commenced with Bacon and continued through Hobbes. The principal distinctiveness of Locke's philosophy lies in its shift towards epistemology. This represents a unique convergence of the philosopher's creative endeavors with the societal role of philosophy amid the advancement of natural science. Locke’s philosophy can be characterized as entirely opposed to rationalism. He consistently adhered to the ancient principle of sensualism: “there is nothing in the mind that was not first in the senses.” His unwavering commitment to this principle manifested in a systematic critique of influential and widespread notions regarding innate ideas, a priori knowledge, and the unproven status of at least some of our understanding. The human soul is devoid of any innate ideas, concepts, or principles. The soul is akin to a blank slate or a clean board (tabula rasa). It is only through experience, facilitated by sensory perception, that this blank slate becomes inscribed.

Locke understands experience primarily as the action of surrounding objects upon our senses. The life experience that fills the blank slate is termed "external experience" (sensation). This pertains solely to the actions of objects upon us. However, there also exists an internal, spiritual experience concerning thought. Locke does not separate this experience from the previous one, referring to it as internal sensation or reflection. These two forms of experience elucidate the origins and functions of all human knowledge (regarding the properties of the external world and the traits of one’s soul—joy, sadness, pride, and so forth). Reason is defined by Locke as a process wherein simple ideas, arising from both external and internal experiences, generate new ideas that cannot emerge directly from sensation and reflection. These include complex ideas such as space, time, and substance.

While denying innate ideas, Locke acknowledges certain abilities and inclinations toward specific activities. Without this crucial qualification, he might never have been regarded as one of the prominent theorists of education.

A significant aspect of Locke's work is his theory of primary and secondary qualities. Both types emerge from external experience. Primary qualities (spatial properties, mass, motion) are the results of the action of objects upon our senses; they are objective. Secondary qualities, largely determined by the peculiarities of our sensory organs (taste, color, smell), exist, as it were, solely for our consciousness.

In his understanding of social and political life, Locke likewise employs the concepts of the natural and civil state. He depicts individuals in the natural state as free, equal, and independent. In contrast to Hobbes, Locke vigorously develops the theme of property and labor as attributes of the natural person, emphasizing the significance of private ownership even in the natural state. He also perceives the origin of the state in the social contract. The freedom inherent to individuals in the natural state and the property inseparable from human identity must be preserved under civil conditions; indeed, this is the very purpose for the establishment of civil society. For Locke, the ideal form of government is a constitutional monarchy. He advocates for the separation of powers: the legislative power belongs to Parliament, the executive to the judiciary and the army, and the federative (which oversees relations with other countries) to the king and his ministers. This effectively constitutes a concept of constitutional monarchy. As an ideologist of class compromise, Locke emerged as one of the founders of liberalism in England.