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Jean-Jacques Rousseau vs Thomas Hobbes on Politics

Hobbes and Rousseau begin from opposite pictures of natural humanity and reach correspondingly opposite political conclusions. Hobbes's natural man is a creature of fear and competitive desire whose pre-political life is a war of all against all; Rousseau's is peaceful and self-loving, corrupted only by the introduction of property and social comparison. Hobbes's contract justifies an absolute sovereign as the rational escape from natural misery; Rousseau's general will justifies only the citizen body acting on its own behalf. For Hobbes, society saves us; for Rousseau, society introduces the problem.

About this topic

Political philosophy investigates the basis and limits of political authority, the principles of just institutions, and the duties citizens owe one another. From Plato and Aristotle through Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, and Marx to twentieth-century theorists of liberalism, democracy, and critique, philosophers have asked how power should be organized and to what ends. The quotes below illustrate these long-running questions about freedom, equality, the state, and the common good.

For a side-by-side overview of the two philosophers more broadly, see the full Jean-Jacques Rousseau vs Thomas Hobbes comparison. To browse philosophy more widely on this theme, see the Politics quotes hub.

Representative quotes on politics

Jean-Jacques Rousseau on politics

  • Attributed to Jean-Jacques Rousseau:

    “Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains.”

  • Attributed to Jean-Jacques Rousseau:

    “The strongest is never strong enough to be always the master, unless he transforms strength into right, and obedience into duty.”

  • Attributed to Jean-Jacques Rousseau:

    “Free people, remember this maxim: we may acquire liberty, but it is never recovered if it is once lost.”

Thomas Hobbes on politics

  • “The war of all against all.”

    The First Part, Chapter 13, p. 62

  • “Covenants without the sword are but words, and of no strength to secure a man at all.”

    The Second Part, Chapter 17, p. 85

  • “The condition of man is a condition of war of every one against every one.”

    The First Part, Chapter 14, p. 64

  • “He that is to govern a whole nation must read in himself, not this or that particular man, but mankind.”

    The Introduction, p. 2

  • “Such truth as opposes no man's profit, nor pleasure, is to all men welcome.”

    Review and Conclusion, p. 396, (Last text line)

All 8 Thomas Hobbes quotes on politics →

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