Hobbes; Leviathan
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Hobbes; Leviathan
Hobbes wrote the Leviathan and divided it into four different sections. For sake of brevity, I will only discuss the second book in, which Hobbes discusses the Commonwealth. He, like Rousseau, holds up the idea that the people of a society are better off by joining the social contract, which all humans are unintentionally apart of. In Book II, Hobbes asserts that there must be some form of leadership, which holds the people together and keeps them from following their natural instincts to gain power and use it in a malicious way. The contract only works because when a government is set up and laws are put in place, there are punishments, which make the citizens afraid to act out of line, thus making a more peaceful place for everyone.
The Leviathan comes from the Hebrew word for “sea monster” however; in Hobbes context it is used as an allegory to represent something close to perfection. The Leviathan represents the man or men, which form the perfect government that the people give up their rights to be a part of. Hobbes calls the coming together of all the people, the commonwealth, thus