1. Early Liberals
Thomas Hobbes
• People can be rational and have ‘NATURAL RIGHTS’
• But people are competitive and self-interested
• State of nature: A war of everyone against everyone
• Man should therefore exchange his natural rights for
protection, peace and stability from a ‘mortal god’.
John Locke
• People have natural rights – life, libertu, property
ownership, pursuit of happiness.
• People are social and can work together and man
should take into account interests of others TOLERANCE.
• Government has to be established by consent –
SOCIAL CONTRACT
• If government abuses NATURAL RIGHTS the people
have the right to cancel the contract and dissolve
government.
Why Hobbes?

2. Utilitarianism
• Closely linked to the thinker JEREMY
BENTHAM.
• Saw notion of NATURAL RIGHTS as ‘nonsense
on stilts’
• All humans are dominated by drives that lead
them to pursue pleasure and avoid pain.
• Believed it was possible to calculate how
much ‘utility’ (satisfaction/happiness) each
individual could derive from consuming
certain goods.
• So governments could add to sum of utility by
taking certain actions which most people
preferred.
• Can you identify three major problems with
this view?

3. 1.Simplistic view of what motivates individuals.
A new car vs an education..
2.Opens door to excessive government
intervention.
3.Could lead to the ‘tyranny of the majority’
ENTER, John Stuart Mill!