Says Hobbes, "Another doctrine repugnant to Civil Society is that whatsoever a man does against his Conscience is Sin; and it depends on the presumption of making himself judge of Good and Evil" (Hobbes, p. 234). Hobbes asserts that the civil law is the public conscience, and that even if an individual believes he sins against his own conscience, but does not in actuality violate civil law, that individual is not at fault. Here, Hobbes places the Civil Law and the Commonwealth on a higher plane of morality -- one which oversees all actions, and judges them as though it were somehow superior to them. In conclusion, both Aristotle and Hobbes formulate complex philosophical systems...

While both assert a logical desire for the common good, their judgment of what constitutes that good is different. Aristotle, while allowing for subjective considerations, acknowledges an objective standard by which men might judge (and which can be attained by reason). Hobbes, however, is more rooted in the subjective opinions and agreements that men make in their time and place.
Works Cited

Aristotle. The Nicomachean ethics of Aristotle. Trans R.W. Browne. London: George

Bell & Sons, 1889. Web. 7 Apr 2011.

Hobbes, Thomas. Leviathan. Ed a.R. Waller. Cambridge: University Press, 1904.

Web. 7…