Hobbes
thought that states are formed as the only alternative to anarchy,
barbarism, and war, so that supremacy and unity of a sovereign
power is essential to a civilized life and the protection of the
citizenry. A sovereign may be a man or body of men as long as his
or its authority is generally recognized. There must be a social
contract among the citizenry to obey a certain sovereign. To avoid
religious conflict, there must be a complete subordination of the
church to the state and the religion of a state must be dependent
upon its secular sovereign. Hobbes thought that knowledge of the
world came through experience and not reason alone. Only matter
exists, and everything that happens can be predicted in accordance
with exact, scientific laws. He regarded human societies as purely
mechanical systems set in motion by human desires. He saw self
interest as the mainspring of moral law. Conflicting self
interests transformed into a lawful system of agreements. Hobbes
opined that all power really originated in the people and that the
end of all power was for the people's good.
On the other hand, James Harrington, who wrote "The Commonwealth
of Oceana" in 1656, opined that a stable society depended on a
direct relationship between the distribution of property and
political power; no one with property worth more than 2,000 pounds
should be allowed to acquire more and property should be divided
among children.
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