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RESPONSE ON JOHN LOCKE
In Chapter IX, paragraph 123, "Of the Ends of Political Society and
Government," part of The Second Treatise of Civil Government, John Locke
puts forth a very important question-"If man in the state of nature be so
free. . . if he be absolute lord of his own person and possessions, equal
to the greatest and subject to no body, why will he part with his freedom?"
Obviously, Locke is pointing out that every human being, regardless of
their social status, is the "absolute lord" or master of his own person and
possessions which Locke categorizes as being property, i.e., "lives,
liberties and estates." Locke then asks "why will he (i.e., a free man)
give up this empire and subject himself to the dominion and control of any
other power?" What Locke is attempting to say in this passage is that a
free man or woman would willingly give up their personal freedom, or at
least part of it, in order to assure the "mutual preservation" of his
rights as a free human being via joining some sort of united society which
exists to preserve his so-called "natural rights." This is certainly much
in line with our current democratic system in the United States which
exists solely to guarantee that all men and women are free individuals and
have the God-given right to live their lives as they see fit. This passage
is also very interesting, due to perhaps serving as part of the Founding
Fathers' inspiration to set up a democratic system free from the tyranny of
Great Britain which resulted in the creation of America after the
Revolutionary War of 1776. Obviously, in the eyes of someone like King
George III, this passage would be quite controversial, for Locke is
suggesting that all men must be free from the control of others who see
themselves as superior, in this case the British monarchy. Personally, this
passage is very inspiring and demonstrates that every political society
and/or government must work continuously towards guaranteeing the freedom
of its citizens which for Locke represents the end of all means or in other
words, serves as the ultimate attainable goal.
Locke combined the rational, deductive theory of Rene Descartes and the inductive, scientific experimentalism of Francis Bacon and the Royal Society. He gave the Western world the first modern theory of human nature and a new synthesis of the individualistic concept if liberty and the theory of government that was emerging out of the debates over natural law." (Locke 2003) look at Locke's early life shows why his thinking was
And because you breached the conditions set in this social contract, we are now taking full ownership, once again, of our liberties and properties that we had entrusted you. This condition of civil society was illustrated concretely in Treatise, and if you do not recall Locke's reminders on this, let me help you recall his wisdom: "...but whenever his property is invaded by the will and order of his
John Locke and Two Treatises of Government Locke's Conception of the State of Nature vs. The State of War In "Two Treatises of Government" Locke strives to present the notion that a government grounded in the consent of the populace does not necessarily "lay a foundation for perpetual disorder and mischief, Tumult, Sedition and Rebellion"(Book II, Chapter I, Sec.25). Locke suggests all of mankind operates on the Law of Nature, within which
Question 2: The goals of the philosophies were meant to exercise a set of ideals. Which common tenets of enlightened thinking do writers Mary Wollstonecraft and Denis Diderot advance in "A Vindication of the Rights of Woman" and the selection from "Encyclopedie." Contemporary connections: Discuss how you see the tenets you identified in these works as having informed/influenced our contemporary experience. Although Mary Wollstonecraft speaks about the rights of women specifically,
Basically, Hobbes takes a long historical view of human society, and sees the continuation of civil societies -- i.e. those organized under governments -- as the prime necessity for any progress. Left in the state of nature, mankind could not be guaranteed the continued success of any long-term projects, and therefore would not desire to undertake them. Also, without the rule of law, many men would not feel any need
Others might allege that Mugabe has held elections, unlike John Locke's legitimate sovereign. But the presence of elections does not necessarily guarantee the existence of a good and fair representative government, or even the existence of a legislature. The BBC news reported that during the 2002 Zimbabwe election "some people from Europe were in Zimbabwe to watch how the voting was run. The Norwegian observers said the election was severely