John Locke disagreed with Hobbes social contract because he believed that people were born with natural rights and that the government should protect these rights.
Philosopher was born in 1632, a time when Britain was emerging from the English Civil War and Oliver Cromwell was trying to establish his own form of government. The Glorious Revolution of 1688-89 saw the overthrow of James II by William III (of Orange). Locke was a strong supporter of this new regime and wrote the Second Treatise of Government as a defence of it.
Locke believed that people were born with natural rights such as life, liberty, and property. He also believed that people could give up some of their natural rights when they entered society but never all of them. He argued that if people gave up all of their natural rights when entering society then there would be nothing stopping governments from abusing its power over its citizens and turning into tyrannical regimes. However for Locke it was necessary for governments to have some power over its citizens so that they would obey the laws set by the government.
The main idea behind Locke’s thought is that men are not born with any rights at all; rather, they have only those rights which their governments grant them. This contrasts strongly with Hobbes’ view that men have natural rights which can only be taken away from them by force or fraud: “Every man has a Property in his own Person… As much as any one can make use of to any advantage of life before it spoils…” (Leviathan, Chapter 13).
