J.P.
Kennedy
HH205P,
Professor Tucker
John
Locke
·
His Life
o
Born on
o
After death of Charles I, governmental institutions
began experimenting with new forms including the abolishment of monarchy, the
House of Lords and the Anglican church, and Oliver Cromwell’s Protectorate in
the 1650’s
o
Charles II ruled after the Protectorate fell
and Cromwell’s death (monarchy restored, 1660-1688)
§
Charles’s rule marked by continued conflicts
between Protestant dissenters and Catholics
o
1688: Glorious Revolution, James II driven
from
·
His Two
Treatises of Government: the introduction was written after the main text,
giving citizens the impression that the work was written in response to the
Glorious Revolution
o
The First Treatise: Locke refutes Sir Robert
Filmer’s “Divine Right Of Kings” doctrine, which states that because men are
not naturally free, absolute monarchy is the only legitimate form of government
o
The Second Treatise: this treatise states
Locke’s positive theory of government, which incorporates the natural rights
theory and the social contract
§
Natural rights theory: there are certain
rights which all humans possess before government ever comes into being
§
Social contract: individuals agree that
their situation in the state of nature is unsatisfactory, so they give up
certain rights to a central government while retaining others
o
Chapter 2 – The State of
§
Humans lived in a state of nature, where
absolute freedom and equality prevailed
§
The only law was the law of nature (law of
reason), where individuals enforced their natural rights to life, liberty, and
property
§
Every individual in the state of nature has
the executive power of the law of nature, so chaos and insecurity prevails
§
People agreed among themselves to quit the
state of nature and create a limited government with the executive power of the
law of nature
§
The government was based on the premise that
government authority was contractual and conditional, and that if a government
abused its own authority, it was the right of the people to abolish the
government and create another
Question
1: Has the state of
nature ever existed, or is Locke using it as a reference to state his political
theory?
o
Chapter 3 – The State of
§
In the state of war, someone wishes to
violate someone else’s right to life, putting himself in a state of war with
the person whose life he intends to take
§
This aggressive behavior is not consistent
with the ideals of the state of nature
§
In Locke’s state of war, there will always
be an unjust aggressor and an innocent victim
Question
2: How does Locke’s
interpretation of the State of
o
Chapter 4 – Slavery: slavery is justified so
long as the enslaved is an unjust aggressor conquered in war (it is a prolonged
state of war in which the victor delays killing his slave)
o
Chapter 5 – Property: private property does
not come by universal consent, but that the labor of our body and the work of
our hands belongs to us
§
Individuals live within the bounds set by
reason and do not quarrel over the acquisition of property
§
Movement from the state of nature to a civil
government results from an increase in population, a decrease in natural
resources, and the advent of economic inequality with the introduction of money
Question
3: Based on Hobbes’
and Locke’s political philosophies, which is a better model for 21st
century
o
On the Function of Civil Government: Locke
argues that the purpose of a legitimate civil government is to preserve the
rights of life, liberty, and property, to persecute and punish individuals who violate
the rights of others, and to pursue the common good even when it conflicts with
the rights of individuals
Sources:
·
Classics
of Moral and Political Theory, Ed. Michael L. Morgan
·
“John Locke,”
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/locke/#Two