Political Philosophies When We Talk

Political Philosophies

When we talk about the political theories of the modern world then two names are of prime importance, John Locke and Karl Marx. These two philosophers have greatly worked on the political conditions of the modern era and it is impossible to sum up the work of such great philosophers in a few pages but their concluded perspectives are discussed below (Tully, 1993).

John Locke who is popularly known as the father of Liberalism has greatly worked for the political philosophies of the modern era. According to Locke people are born independent therefore their liberalism is natural and the ruler or and government cannot bound them under any restriction that is against their basic rights. These basic rights include right of life, their property control, liberty to think and act and freedom to choose their religion and lead their life in accordance with it. He said that all men are born as free, so no governmental body has such a superior place that they can forcefully put their opinion on others against their will.

Locke further included that as people have established the governmental system to secure their rights therefore the government can only restrict the people up to the limit where it is necessary for public welfare. In case where government is not performing their duties according to the defined way, then the people have complete right to raise their voice against the management and can choose another ruler for their welfare (Tully, 1993). According to him, citizen can also choose revolution as the way to finish the unwanted and forceful governmental rule. As he researched on the U.S. society, therefore he said that the affairs of the state and church (or any other religious place) should be separated. Religion and politics are two separate things, as they must be kept separate.

Karl Marx was a German philosopher who is popular for his work as a revolutionary communist. The collection of Marx's theory is generally termed as "Marxism." His theory holds the idea of a socio-political environment that in its early stage is a society of capitalism. In this society, elite class has the dominance and possession of property and production. In this society, the lower class people perform role of workers in the production of goods. Profits are the right of elite class, labor class has just their access up to the limit of necessities, and sometimes they lack even their necessities (Skoble, 2007).

Marx believed that when the upper class will continue this practice of unfair treatment, then eventually it would lead the labor class towards the revolution in order to get their rights. The foundation of the French Revolution was on the same scenario. Destruction of this society will lead to the formation of society of "Socialism." Under this society, the power will remain in their hands of the lower working class, rules will assure their security and their rights are highly valued. This society will create a dictatorship of the working class, and as the people change after getting power and possession, similarly working class will start biasness on their judgmental basis.

Marx further included that finally the biased behavior of the working class will end this dictatorship period, and a class less society will establish. He believed that for the formation of this society people need to launch an organized movement against the dictatorship and only a successful revolution would lead to the formation of society of "Communism" (Skoble, 2007).

When we talk about the political philosophy, we can observe that both John Locke and Karl Marx are in favor of the idea that when there is a need of change then an organized revolution is compulsory. People cannot get their rights until they demand for it because it's natural thing that you need to raise your voice in order to get your right otherwise other will keep it as their own possession.

The point of differ come when we talk about the scenario in which both of them forwarded their theories. Karl Marx of 18th century leaded the Russian revolution and strength in his approach came by the then unjust situation in Russia. On the other hand, Locke of 16th century gave basis for the American revolutionaries and focused on the involvement of church within the governmental issues.

In this whole process, Marx has placed greater importance to the role of people to formulate an organized revolution. He believed that a social change could only come when people gather against its supremacy. Therefore, it is the duty of the unprivileged people to raise their voice against the unfair treatment and obtain their rights through a systematic movement (Riemer & Simon, 1997).