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Hobbes & Locke: A Comparison

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Compare Hobbes and Locke on the nature and significance of reason.

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The solution is a concise comparison & contrast of Hobbes' and Locke's ideas and view on the nature and significance of reason.

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Nature and significance of reason for Hobbes and Locke

Hobbes:
- Reason is not born to us like sense, nor simply acquired by experience, but is attained by industry (thus, scientific method makes one more reasonable). Note the radical nature of this claim; it means that all humans can be reasonable if they work hard; not the case that only some are naturally capable of reason. (Note further the departure here from Plato and Aristotle.)
- But, reason is only addition and subtraction of names; not a particularly unique human property (what is unique about us is our ability to apply labels to thoughts). Reason does not give us any knowledge beyond sense experience. ...

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