Question

8.2 jm

Write a response to the following passage in your opinion

Plato laid the foundations of Western philosophy and science. Alfred North Whitehead once noted: "the safest general characterization of the European philosophical tradition is that it consists of a series of footnotes to Plato." Plato's argument that non-physical (but substantial) forms (or ideas) represent the most accurate reality.

Locke is among the most influential political philosophers of the modern period. In the Two Treatises of Government, he defended the claim that men are by nature free and equal against claims that God had made all people naturally subject to a monarch.  Locke's political theory was founded on social contract theory. Locke believed that human nature is characterized by reason and tolerance. Like Hobbes, Locke believed that human nature allowed people to be selfish.

Answer 1

Every individual who is born in this world is a free man physically, emotionally and intellectually. Everyone is equal and the leader is the first among the equals. But earlier, all the people were expected to be the subjects of kings and queens who were considered as demi-gods and they were seen as the representatives of God. As civilization grew, thoughts on individuality and individual freedom evolved from great philosophers such as Locke, Hobbes etc. Human beings are bound by a social contract where there are set rights and duties for everyone. If anyone violates them, there are also punishments decided by the societies.

Human beings are naturally selfish as Hobbes and Locke suggests because when it comes to life and death, one needs to more concerned about oneself. This selfishness is part and parcel of the animal kingdom but in terms of human beings it’s not that aggressively practiced in collective cultures where people make explicit sacrifices for their loved ones and family, whereas in the Western and individualistic societies people behave in a more selfish way.