Con e oltre Thomas Hobbes: lo stato di natura in John Locke

Abstract

When Locke develops his view of the state of nature, he keeps
in mind the recents works of Thomas Hobbes. Nevertheless, the
weight of the will of God in Locke’s theory makes his ‘state of
nature’ less dangerous and lonely than Hobbes’s one. So, while
the basis of the two systems are similar, the models of the commonwealths that arise from them are diametrically opposite:
if Hobbes wants to defend the absolute power of the English
Crown, Locke supports the parliamentary principle of the dawning
Whig party.
Keywords: state of nature, natural law, liberty, equality.