Hobbes’s understanding of humanity
According to Hobbes’s understanding of humanity, people are selfish creatures at their hearts. They would be in a constant state of struggle with one another if one individual were in a condition of nature (without the existence of the government). At this point, the life of a human is solitary, weak, filthy, bruising, and short. The English Civil War that lasted between 1642 and 1649, resulted in King Charles I’s decapitation establishing Hobbes’s views of human nature (McKay, p.157). He found the ensuing Chaotic Era of Interregnum from 1649 to 1660 to be so close to that original state of life that human beings could achieve. According to Hobbes’s pessimistic view of human nature, he thought that absolute monarchy was the only form of government powerful enough to control humanity’s cruel impulses. While Hobbes believed in the theory of social contract and felt that the people had no right to rebel.
On the other hand, Locke’s theory of mind is often listed as the root of modern identity and selves. It prominently featured in the work of later thinkers such as Rousseau and Immanuel Kant. Locke was the first person to describe the self concerning humanity. According to (McKay, p.203). He postulated the mind to be a blank slate or tabula rasa at birth. Unlike Cartesian philosophy, he maintained that we were born without inherent understanding and that knowledge is decided only through experience derived from the interpretation of the meaning. Now that’s known as empiricism. An example of Locke’s conviction in epistemology can be seen in his quote, that whatever he write, his hand will be the first to be thrown into the fire as soon as he realize it is not true.