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John Locke's Three Types Of Power

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Locke states that there are three types of power (paternal, familial, and political) and expresses his fear of the types getting confused. Political, which is the right to make laws or protection and regulation of property, is the most important to Locke as it directly concerns the good of the public. In his process of defining political power, Locke refers to the state of nature (natural instincts of people) as a state of equality in which no person has more power than another. He notes, however, that there is a natural level of universal law that exists in this nature and that people do not have license to abuse others. Locke proposes that natural law only calls for the punishment to fit the crime. Lastly, John Locke states that all human …show more content…

Due to the total lack of reason that children possess, they are unable to survive in either natural or societal states. Until a person has grown and matured enough, his parents will hold power over him. The paternal power discussed is entirely different from political power. A human is free from paternal power when he can function independently, yet there is no such rule within the political power of a society. A civil society is a society of individuals joined under the rule of a leader who governs them and protects their property. A commonwealth combines the legislative and executive power the public gives it. This is vastly different from paternal power, in which power is commanded by parents with no expressed consent from …show more content…

When entering such a society, a person surrenders to the majority and commits to following its decisions. Natural life lacks an established law, judge, power to enforce a sentence. A just, rational civil society provides these for an individual, as long as he relinquishes his natural rights; some of these rights include: doing as one wishes (while still following the law of nature) and the power to punish infringements against natural law. The first is only given up in part, because societal law is stricter than natural law. However, this society rests upon the existence of the law, judge and executive power. The majority of a society are given the privilege of choosing the form of government that they desire to live under. And not only does it choose the government, but it is given the ability to change the government whenever it chooses. Legislative power, Locke states, is the most important factor in the government of a civil society, and is what technically determines what type of government is in place. Legislative power operates under rules: it must preserve society, it can never be challenged (except by the majority), all laws put forth by the power must be followed by society. Yet, the legislative power can only govern with laws that are equally applicable to all citizens, must work solely for the good people as a whole, and cannot raise taxes without the consent of the

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People have authority when it is popular sovereignty. This gives the ability to decide how they want the government to work. They can either give consent or nothing at all. Means that people can elect their representative. “To secure these rights, Governments are instituted among men, … it is the Right of people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on

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According to Locke, the legislative power is the most important part of the government. Locke claims that their first rule is to preserve the society. The legislative body’s power and authority comes from the consent of the governed

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The Primary objective of all leaders should be to control citizens. A society that allows authority to be challenged will never succeed. This source depicts an authoritarian or totalitarian view of what a governing body should look like. The author suggests that the primary objective of government should be the “control of the citizens”, and therefore that the individuals should entirely obey said government.

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John Locke, a 17th century philosopher from England, was a man who contained many ideas and theories on how particular civilizations should operate. John Locke philosophized “that there was an unspoken law amongst men known as “The Law of Nature” (“state of nature” Locke). The “law of nature” depicts a community in which there was only moral law. Thus the “law of nature” portrays a “state of perfect freedom where all men share their equality” (“state of nature”4). This statement basically states that “no one has power over another and are free (Locke 4)” to govern themselves accordingly.

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One individual does not have the power to change their society because there is too much power in numbers, they will be persecuted by the mobs that think differently than the individual, and one individual does not have enough strength to go against larger and more powerful forces. Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut, The Lord of the Flies by William Golding, and The Lottery by Shirley Jackson contain solid proof that my claim is in fact true. The one huge difference between an individual and a society, is the amount of minds working together. When people work together, they feel as if their ideas are more solid, because more people support them. The society would then try to defend themselves against someone that serves as a threat to their traditions and intelligence.

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The philosophers such as Locke and Rousseau, believed that the governors of society should be responsive and secure rights for the people. With this intention in mind, an individual wouldn’t change society because it is supposed to be built around the individuals. Thus, individuals can not change their society because they don’t have power in numbers, they will be condemned by society if they try, and they shouldn’t need to change society if it is built to represent. An individual can not change society because

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INTRODUCTION Society is a collection of people that influences individual’s life and behavior. It is generally the groups of people that are complying with the same rules and laws that allows them to live altogether. All over the world, talks about society and its issues that are prominent and inevitable. This paper intends to presents different points about social issues.

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John Locke was a philosopher and political scientist. He had many interests and produced a number of writings that influenced future leaders. One of these leaders was Thomas Jefferson, who was involved with the aid of America and the act gaining independence from Britain. The Declaration of Independence and Locke’s views on government contain many similar aspects. These ideas includes the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness (natural rights); the protection that is provided by the government for these rights; and the altering or abolishment of government if it fails to provide and protect the rights of the people.

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Locke’s definition of liberty depends on whether the person is in the state of nature, in which people are “without subordination or subjection” (Locke 101) or if they have formed into a commonwealth, or whenever “any number of men are so united into one society, as to quit every one his executive power of the law of nature, and resign it to the public” (Locke 137-38). In the Lockean state of nature, men have a “freedom to order their actions and dispose of their possessions and persons” (Locke 101). This freedom is still limited by what Locke refers to as the law of nature, or that “no one ought to harm another in his life, health, liberty, or possessions” (Locke 102). He also defines the liberty of the state of nature as “not to be under any will or legislative authority of man” (Locke 109). In his form of commonwealth, there is more limited freedom, in which liberty is to “be under no legislative power, but that established, by the consent of the commonwealth” (Locke 110).

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In John Locke’s Second Treatise of Government, Locke focuses on the definition and function of property in chapter four. Locke wants to argue that man can attain private property in several ways (Socrates 6 sect. 25). Locke believed that there are two arguments for the acquisition of private property in a state of nature. First the labor-mixing argument and the value-adding argument (Locke 7 sect. 27). His argument states that if one mixes one’s labor with unknown land or resources, one then owns the unowned land or resources (Locke 7 sect. 27).

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By explicitly listing the different elements of civil interest, Locke sets relatively clear boundaries for government control. Additionally, Locke places far greater emphasis on the government leader’s responsibility to the people than Mussolini. Locke also states that “God certainly appointed government to restrain the partiality and violence of men” (pg. 86). The leader’s responsibility to the people further indicates Locke’s belief that government should exist to serve the people and to minimize negative human actions. The conflict between the Fascist regime in Fatherland and Locke’s political theory is the involvement government should have with its

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Locke's most important and influential political writings are contained in his Two Treatises on Government. The first treatise is concerned almost exclusively with refuting the argument that political authority was derived from religious authority. The second treatise contains Locke’s own constructive view of the aims and justification for civil government. According to Locke, the State of Nature, the natural condition of mankind, is a state of perfect and complete liberty to conduct one's life as one best sees fit, free from the interference of others. This does not mean, however, that it is a state of license: one is not free to do anything at all one pleases, or even anything that one judges to be in one’s interest.

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On the Social Contract. Each of the philosophies discussed the purpose of government as well as which government was the most ideal. For Paine, government, is “a punisher,” in which society is ruled by in order to protect the properties of one’s natural rights (Paine 3). However, he defends a representative democracy as being the ideal. Likewise, John Locke also argues that governments protect the rights of man.

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Introductory Paragraph (description of theory) John Locke (29 August 1632 – 28 October 1704) is a English philosopher and physician regarded as one of the most influential of the Enlightenment thinkers and known as the "Father of Classical Liberalism”. Locke got a scholarship to Oxford University where he spent 30 years at Oxford, studying, tutoring, and writing. He wrote influential political science and philosophy. Locke 's famous theory had to do with the Social Contract theory. The Social Contract covers the origin of government and how much authority a state should have over an individual.

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Only those who are born with true philosophical understanding can rule. In the Second Treatise by John Locke, Locke addresses the state of nature, which is essentially equality and freedom. Even though people have liberty, they still need to obey natural laws. On the contrary of Plato’s just city, Locke believes that absolute authority is not a civil government. A civil society is where the majority rules.

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