Which Philosophy is More Useful For Us Now?

There are many types of governments that that are currently in effect throughout the world, however many of them have the basic principles of either the philosophy of John Locke and the philosophy of Thomas Hobbes. The philosophy of John Locke most closely relates to a democracy and capitalism, a government that is ruled by the voices of the people. The people have the power to elect their leaders, and also overthrow them. On the contrary, Hobbes concepts most closely relate to dictatorship governments such as communism and fascism. A ruler is elected who has absolute power to unite everyone under him and make decisions on his own for the wellbeing of their country. While both philosophies have strong followers, John Locke’s philosophy would be most useful to modern day.

The ideas presented in Locke’s philosophy would be most useful for today’s age. His philosophy explains that all men have natural rights. These “natural rights such as life, liberty, and property existed in the state of nature and could never be taken away or even voluntarily given up by individuals (John Locke WS).” These inalienable rights belong to the people and having a dictator in power do not change these rights. Since man’s rights cannot be taken away, a democracy would be the best government to keep the people safe and still voice their concern about their country. To people now, freedom is very important and having a philosophy that limits freedom is unjust and can’t be considered fair to the people.

Locke’s philosophy also referred to peoples freedom of thought, speech, religion, and what he considered to be the most important, property. He claimed the government was mainly needed to promote the “public good;” to protect the people’s property. He also believed that government roles should only be filled with those who are fit to take them, meaning those who own property have the right to vote. In the modern age, many countries have adopted this idea but with slight changes, such as the requirement to be a citizen of the United States to vote.

Both Hobbes and Locke had philosophies that they believed would protect the freedoms and natural rights of people, however Locke’s philosophy would be more helpful and also cater to the systems we have in place currently. Locke’s philosophy led to people having unalienable rights that cannot be taken away by any individual, including a fair government system to ensure the people of a country have a say in who they want to be elected and in charge. Overall, Locke’s philosophy would have ideas that are far more useful today than Hobbes ideas and philosophy.