I spent yesterday teaching a grade 12 class about the different ideologies of three great philosophers: Hobbes, Rousseau, and Locke. We were trying to answer the question what kind of government would each gentleman prefer based on his theories on politics, power and the nature of man. The whole thing was very grande and sweeping and brought me back to my first year of philosophy at King's where I wanted to cram the Leviathan down my professor's throat because it was so irrelevant. And then I taught junior high today and had to do a lunch time duty on the school yard.
If anyone wants to examine what the basic state of man in nature is they need to go watch a group of teenagers or kids left to themselves on a playground. Because, and I say this firmly, our natural state must be pure chaos. Pure and utter chaos. Hobbes had it right with the whole "natural state of war and anarchy bit."
(Sidenote: Rousseau and Locke are also names of characters on Lost...coincidence? I think not!)
1 comment:
You inspire me....long live jr. high.
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