If Hobbes, Machiavelli, or Wollstonecraft’s ideas were used to establish a foundation for the Constitution of America instead of Locke’s, we would be living completely different lives and the function of our society would be drastically changed. Thomas Hobbes had a tainted outlook on humans. He thought of people and life very negatively. Machiavelli was very strong and straightforward. He had a harsh attitude and his ideals were firm and he strongly believed in them. Mary Wollstonecraft kept women at a high standard. She believed the only thing restricting her gender from overcoming adversity was their lack of education. These beliefs held high by their owners would substantially change the society in which we live today and in some cases contribute unconstructively.
Hobbes’ pessimistic outlook and philosophies on human beings are surely different than the ideas of Locke. He believed life was “Solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.” This would have shaped our society in a completely different way then it is now. We are living upon the ideas that we have inalienable rights and that human beings are free to do as they please. Hobbes believes that without harsh authority humans are naturally selfish and egotistical. Imagine what our government and our rights would look like if we lived under this man’s ideal society. We would be controlled and under careful watch at all times. Our rights would be strictly limited and we would have little or no say at all in how we were governed.
Machiavelli did not believe in Democracy. He trusted a government run by a dictator. And the dictator wouldn’t be kind and genuine to his/her people, but they would establish a fear among society. He stated that it is better to be feared than loved. This would create another very harsh lifestyle for a human living under his ideal reign. One would always watch their back in case they did something wrong. One slight mistake might result in your death just to set an example to the...
