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Marx Vs Hobbes

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Christian Benjamin
Mrs. Sauter
History/ Block F
12/7/14
A Comparison of Social Contracts
A social contract is a distinctive agreement among the members of a society to cooperate with one another to gain social benefits. There have been many social philosophers throughout history who have written about their opinion on how society should function within a successful government. Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) was an English philosopher who believed that the human race was corrupted from birth and that they were cruel, greedy and selfish. He also believed that people will fight, steal, and torment each other. He further believes that people must be ruled by an absolute monarchy and the surrounding governments must grant all power to the king. Another English philosopher, …show more content…
He had an optimistic view of the nature of mankind. He believed that all humans had three essential rights that were bestowed upon them at birth; life, liberty and, property. According to John Locke, the best type of government was one that does not have an absolute monarchy, but does have limited power that is controlled and preferred by all citizens. Karl Marx (1818-1883) the more revolutionary philosopher, had the more radical ideas about what the social contract should be. Marx’s published the Communist Manifesto in 1848. He introduced the idea of Communism describing it as a kind of socialism. He believed that there would be a conflict between the different social classes that would eventually forge a classless society where all citizens would be equal. Per Marx, if society followed his social contract, the working class and the

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