Locke States example essay topic

John Locke stands as a pivotal empiricist / philosopher, who's temporal writings have contributed greatly to the understanding of governmental development in the late 1600's. Locke's The Second Treatise on Civil Government delves greatly into what Locke sees as a utopian governmental structure that would supposedly benefit the people as well as the state. This government is based on the idea of the sovereignty of the people, and is rooted in the institutional ideologies of liberal democratic state in which the people relinquish some natural rights in order to enter this society. Locke's influence and discussion of "tacit consent", separation of powers, and the right of the citizen to revolt against an undesired government, posed great insight into possible political structure during the Age of Enlightenment. In the first chapters of The Second Treatise on Civil Government, Locke aims to dispute Filmer's idea of the divine right of sovereignty. He does so by stating that "Adam had not, either by natural right of fatherhood or by positive donation from God, any such authority over his children, nor dominion over the world (Locke 7)".

Therefore he did not Absolute authority over his children or the world, and therefore is not justified in killing his family. He follows by making a comparison, similar to that of Plato's ideal state, between ruler and ruled. He draws this comparison by illustrating the differences between father and child, master and the slave, and husband and wife. His idea of a political power then results in the, .".. right of making laws, with penalties of death, and employing the forced of the community in the execution of such laws, and in the defense of the commonwealth from foreign injury, and all this for the public good. (Locke 8) ". Locke seems to believe that his political projection of a preferable political power will entail beneficial results for the citizens of the state.

This government that Locke describes presses for the idea of equality within the state. A state in which no one citizen has power over another, unless, "by any manifest declaration of his will, set one above another, and confer on him, by any evident and clear appointment, any undoubted right to dominion and sovereignty (Locke 9) ". What this means is that all citizens will remain equal counterparts unless that is a specified higher dominion is established within the jurisdiction of the "Equality of men by Nature". This relationship, however diminutive, cannot result in any form of abuse. Locke thus states that natural law simply demands that punishment fit the crime; a person in the state of nature can redress any crime to discourage the offender from repeating it. He shows this relationship in the idea of a foreigner committing a crime in a foreign country, and the subsequent legitimate punishment of this crime as part of the natural law that he describes.

What prevails from text at the end of chapter two is a seemingly confident Locke that believes he has the justifications to prove with clarity that, "all men are naturally I that state, and remain so till, by their own consents, they make themselves members of some political society (Locke 14)". It seems that Locke identifies the citizens as existing in this natural state, and will remain that way until they choose to join this political society that he describes. He also has strong opinions on the idea of self-defense against an unwarranted aggressor. Locke states that a person does have the right to kill another person so long as it is in self-defense.

This integral self-preservation law, rooted in the law of nature, is justifiable to Locke because if someone is aggressed, their freedom is being endangered, thus resulting in a conflict of nature. Locke believes that", [citizens] should have a right to destroy that which threatens [them]; by the fundamental Law of Nature (Locke 15)". He continues the argument by pointing out the differences between the state of nature and the state of war. Both of which have possible occurrences in the societal power that Locke has begun to unravel. The state of nature he delineates is a state in which people live collectively in a state of reason, and furthermore are free from a common superior. The state of war that hew describes is quite different.

In this state, people make "designs of force", without the presence of a common authority. What he is saying is that if attacked, war is a justifiable revenge in that dominion and force without right is not ideal. And furthermore, if the citizens do not feel that the power is right and just for the state, it is in their best interests to rid that power from their political system. "The natural liberty of man is to be free from any superior power on earth, and not to be under the will or legislative authority of man, but to have only the law of Nature for his rule. Locke follows up this claim by defining natural liberty as a person's right to be ruled solely by the laws of nature, and social liberty as the right to be under no legislative power other than that founded by the consent of the commonwealth, functioning for the commonwealth's benefit.

This liberty allows for man to have the highest power over himself, meaning that no one has the right to power over another. And furthermore, if the state takes away from the freedom of the citizen, it is therefore considered to be in a state of war because it will in turn "take away from everything else (Locke 16)". Men who live together, Locke describes, with out the force of a common superior fit properly into the state of nature, and will distance them from the state of war. Locke also makes some interesting suggestions concerning the idea of slavery. Locke make some strong claims concerning slavery and the idea of freedom from an arbitrary repressive rule.

If, in this proposed state, a citizen is to be gratis of any absolute common power, then one cannot possibly enlist into slavery, even if desired. This idea of freedom from force is so fundamental to his idea of liberalism that the only form of slavery would result from an extension of the state of war. In this case, it is justifiable for one top be taken captive during conflict, and is seen as diminutive in relation to the holding party. "This is the perfect condition of slavery", Locke says, "which is nothing else but the state of war continued between a lawful conqueror and a captive (Locke 18)". His idea of war, however, isn't what we define war as today. What Locke is describing is more of a conflict between individuals, not nations.

Locke's definition of what constitutes, justifies, and ends a state of war continues his explication of the natural foundation of government. In defining property of the individual within the political system, Locke shows how property is gained and held within the state. The idea of the property of person tells us that the individual owns his or her body, and any labor they add to that possession. The idea of someone picking an apple, and it becoming theirs because they picked it, is the illustration of Locke's argument. He does, however, limit the property one can hold as theirs by stating that it is only permeable (meaning it can become property) if it is things that the individual can use to their advantage.

The individual can only take what they can use, as result of the social contract. This idea holds true for property as well. A person in a state of nature can rightly claim property by adding labor to the land in the same way they would ass to their personal property. The land, Locke says, along with all other existing things was given by God, and therefore must be held in common accordingly. This common existence of property is the basis of Locke's argument on communal institution in the government.

Locke differentiates between the parental power and political power. His argument is that all citizens are free from parental power when old enough (he uses 21 as the age), unlike political power which is constituted on different grounds. A child is without reason, and gains it as he / she grows in within the society. Locke follows with a description of a civil society. Locke reiterates his description of civil society as a united body of individuals under the power of an executive that protects their property and well being, and designs legislation to govern their behavior. His detailed descriptions as to why an Absolute monarchy is an unacceptable form of government, sheds light on his theory.

Locke claims that since, in an absolute monarchy, the people have to invest all authority in one person, without any common authority, the mass will suffer. In order to prevent this imbalance of power, it essential to acquiesce the legislative and executive branches in order to bring them together and create a single force. Locke speaks of majority rule as essential to any governmental structure. For if the people, he says, cannot choose freely their ruler, they are not able to act according to any social compact, and therefore are not part of any workable political system. Children, however, are not born into any government in Locke's view. The child, once of proper age, has the choice to ally themselves with their parent's government, or not, if so chosen.

This gives flexibility to the child to make their own decision whether or not to enter the political system. The people within the state, however, have the right to choose their form of government (monarchy, oligarchy, etc). And, subsequently, they can change it as well. It all depends, says Locke, on the choice of the majority rule.

Locke then notes that by "commonwealth" he does not particularly mean democracy; rather he uses the term to underscore the point that the community, regardless of its form of government, exists for the commonwealth, for the good of all. We should remember that Locke's ideas were in fact progressive for his time. His assumptions about natural rights, and freedom from arbitrary and unjust government helped shape the creation of the United States Constitution, which rested on Lockean principles of equality and a government working to the best advantage of the people. This idea of democracy combined with a liberal formalized structure is what Locke envisioned as the future of our government. His empirical views, and philosophical arguments are not always so valid and strong, but his writings remain today as temporal pieces of political implication that are still readily used and cited as great sources for political theory and advance in the early stages of what we know as the Age of Enlightenment.