Final answer:
Thomas Hobbes is the philosopher known for stressing that the objective of government is to provide stability and order, advocating for a strong central authority to prevent a chaotic state of nature.
Step-by-step explanation:
The philosopher who particularly emphasized the objective of government to ensure stability and order in society was Thomas Hobbes. Hobbes advocated for a strong, central authority to avoid the chaos of a "state of nature," which he believed would be brutish and violent without a powerful government. In contrast to Hobbes, John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau suggested forms of government that considered the rights of the people and democratic principles to a greater extent. While Rousseau placed more emphasis on direct democracy and the general will, Locke focused on the protection of individual rights. Despite their differences, all these philosophers contributed significantly to the development of social contract theory, aiming to rationalize civil society and the role of government in maintaining order and serving the interests of the people.