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At a minimum, a sovereign person owns themselves, pointing to the idea of individual civil rights that also arise from the state of nature and are independent of the state. Such a philosophy does not automatically translate into democracy. Indeed, Locke felt that legitimate contracts could exist between citizens, oligarchies, monarchies or tyrannies. However, Locke's idea of civil virtue had deep effects upon the American and French Revolutions. Locke's ideas of rights of the people and the role of central government provided strong support for intellectually for both revolutions and further for the development of the democracy in the western tradition. Indeed, Locke in section 76 of the Second Treatise specifically recognizes the growth of society from the family and that the fathers of families eventually became political monarchs. While this is the case, he makes the point that monarchs need to be "priests." Certainly, they were to reign, but not to directly rule so that they did not jeopardize the basic property rights that existed in nature (ibid, p. 25).
Like any issue of property, it results in contracts. While property has an existence that is independent of society, society spells out the rights of the individual to his property in this contract and the obligation of the state to protect property for the participants in the civil contract.
Certainly, John Locke's philosophy is a direct assault upon medieval ideas of the divine monarch and the absolute subservience of the individual to the state that the monarch symbolizes. While...
It does not own everything since before monarch or oligarchy existed, property and the families and the individuals that it nurtured existed before the state and has rights (as well as responsibilities) that existed before the state as constituted by virtue. For instance in medieval monarchical society, the serf's subservience to the monarch or lord was absolute. The divine right of kings recognized no individual rights (property or otherwise) outside of the prevue of the society. Instead, Locke sees in section 6 that we are ultimately God's property. Further in section 26, Locke observes that God gave the earth to men and the wisdom to use it properly (ibid., p. 11). In section 27, men as a whole own the earth and all of the inferior creatures below him (ibid). Therefore, the idea of serfdom is anathema to Locke.
Out of this philosophy grow our present ideas of private property rights and of our right to improve and to enjoy it as the fruits of our labors that flow from our property. While not democracy as we know it, Locke's Second Treatise was a major step forward in the limitation of government and in the recognition that we have rights that existed before and are independent to the existence of the state.
Works Cited
Locke, John. "Second Treatise of Government." Second Treatise. Early Modern Texts,
2010. Web. 25 Oct 2010. .
Works Cited
Locke, John. "Second Treatise of Government." Second Treatise. Early Modern Texts,
2010. Web. 25 Oct 2010.
This is more democratic than 'republican' in spirit, and while Locke might support it to some degree, Meyer very likely would not and state that the property owner's will alone should prevail. It should be noted that in contrast to Danny, the other children view their mother's decision in more emotional, moral terms than Locke might, as rather than invoke the law and property rights they stress considerations such
One might sell their property or hire others to work it, but this can only occur after initial ownership has been made through use. This theory finds no small amount of agreement in the twentieth century Robert Nozick's assertion that any properly justly obtained can be justly redistributed along whatever lines the owner sees fit. Nozick also maintains that people are ends in and of themselves, and must be treated
The right to private property is something the American people believe is an inalienable right. For thousands of years society has allowed private property and rights to that private property. For example, people cannot steal someone’s private property without penalty. This has led to a resurgence in discussion of this policy issue because of the lack of input in where tax money goes from property tax. From a ‘May’ perspective,
"God gave the world to men in common" is a theme that supports the view that Locke would see property and something that should not be wasted, as waste deprives others. That survival is taken out of the equation tilts the moral balance towards Locke viewing much of the expropriation of land that occurs in South Florida as needless. There remains the question of spinoff benefits, and this is something
Finally, property comes only through one's own labor. Therefore, money then becomes a conduit to translate labor into property in the modern sense. Robert Nozick offers several modern praises and critiques of Locke's ancient concepts. Nozick critiques Locke's assumption of natural law based on the limited context of his era. England claimed to have a divine right to acquire property, yet in a free market economy this does not so
This body then has the right and duty, especially if elected to represent to build the laws and enforce the judgment of those laws, as a reflection of the will of the consensus. Locke, having developed a keen sense of a rather radical sense of the rights of the individual and the responsibility of the civil government began his work with the development of what it is that constructs the