Thomas Hobbes and John Locke each formulated notions regarding human liberty in nearly the same social, political, and provincial circumstances. Although their most famous works were separated approximately forty years from one another, they were both wealthy members of seventeenth century English society during a period of particular social and religious turmoil. Similarly, both Hobbes and Locke sought to use reasoning to determine the most appropriate form of political and social organization. It should be anticipated, therefore, that their fundamental conceptions regarding freedom also possess many similarities; however -- aside from their initial premises -- Hobbes and Locke vary wildly in both their approaches to the topic of freedom and the consequences they believe these lines of reasoning hold for society. Locke has come to be thought of as one of the founders of modern political philosophy in the West, and rightly so. Hobbes, on the other hand, has continued to remain celebrated for his philosophical construction of metaphysical materialism. Their ideas concerning freedom reflect these two drastically different perspectives, and in fact, are products of them.
The central premise that links Locke and Hobbes together concerning the topic of liberty is that they both believe that all human knowledge comes into existence through the senses. To them, the human mind is analogous to a blank sheet of paper waiting for our interpretations of sound, light, texture, and taste to write the story of what we perceive to be real. This position automatically denies that humans are born with any knowledge or drives towards complex action before we receive external stimulus. Hobbes believes, "From sense experience we derive historical knowledge and prudence, and from reason we derive scientific and philosophical knowledge and reason." (McGreal 1992, p.187). So, Hobbes holds that the information we receive from our senses can be used to linearly draw rational conclusions through deductive thought. Locke also believes, "Human knowledge is derived either from sense experience or from introspection." (McGreal 1992, p.223). The minor difference being that introspection is not necessarily based upon deductive reasoning, but still relies upon external information; knowledge may be inferred rather than deduced. Although both philosophers virtually agree upon where knowledge comes from, they use this idea to arrive at utterly divergent conclusions regarding the nature of man.
Locke uses this basic blank sheet conception of man to assert that all men are naturally in a state of equality. This makes up one of the natural states man is in; with the other being perfect freedom. He writes in his Second Treatise of Civil Government, "To understand political power aright, and derive it from its original, we must consider what state all men are naturally in, and that is, a state of perfect freedom to order their actions, and to dispose of their possessions and persons, as they think fit, within the bounds of the law of nature, without asking leave, or depending upon the will of any other man." (Cottingham 1996, p.487). This freedom, connected with equality, permits every man utter sovereignty over his own faculties and decisions. This freedom itself is a result of the Law of Nature, as Locke perceives it. The Law of Nature has been arrived at through internal reflection upon the processes of the world that Locke has observed throughout his life, and is discoverable through the process of reason as applied to God's will.
To Locke, God created man in his own image, independent of the trivial classifications and divisions we place upon human beings; so, in the eyes of God we are all equal. This equality demands that each man's sovereign rights to govern himself be respected. Recognizing this, according to Locke, a natural law can be derived; it is a law that ensures the freedom of individuals is complete, insofar as it fails to interfere with the freedom of others. Essentially, the restriction upon this "perfect freedom" that man is born into is that the freedom of others cannot be interrupted. However, this Law of Nature is not innately present in man's mental construction of reality; in other words, each man is free to choose whether or not he will abide by this law. "It is the responsibility of each individual to enact the law of nature which binds them to perceive peace and refrain from harming one another." (Collinson 1987, p.69). This aspect of Locke's freedom is a consequence of his belief in free will: morally, men are required to follow the natural law, but physically they...
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