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John Locke Research Paper

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“In the state of nature, liberty consists of being free from any superior power on Earth. People are not under the will or lawmaking authority of others but have only the law of nature for their rule.” – John Locke

John Locke was a philosopher and one of the most influential thinkers at the time of the Enlightenment in England. Locke is commonly known as the father of Liberalism, and according to his opinion on man's natural state, all people were equal and independent, and people were entitled to the natural right to defend their “life, health Liberty or Possessions.” There have been several historical moments were great measures are taken in the name of liberty. John Henry Laurens liberation of black slaves in the American Revolution …show more content…

Locke uses consent as a key concept for economic systems. Locke questions that if all humans are equal proprietors of the earth then how come some people settle for less than an equal share of its fruit and riches? Locke’s rather complex answer explains that in the process of expanding into colonies, humans combined individual landholdings to help develop societies globally. Humans being rational beings leave the explanation that they must have agreed to the condition only if they felt that it was providing an equal or advantageous transfer then before. In other words, unequal acquisition arises because the poor are better off than if they never acted upon their equal right to their entitlement. The protection of property, the rule of law and good government are the focus of Locke’s emphasis on what is known as negative …show more content…

Who shall be the judge over the government when they fail to meet the people's demands and abuse power? Locke explains that only in a society where people have control over their own government can a sense of civil liberty be

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“The state of nature has a law of nature to govern it, which obliges everyone: and reason, which of that law, teaches all of mankind, that being all equal and independent, no one ought to harm another in his life, health, liberty, or possessions.” this quote show that locke wanted all people to trust each other and to treat each other how they would want to be treated, with respect and trust that you have the best intentions for others not just yourself and to prove that you are not selfish. “Nothing was made by God for man to spoil or destroy. And thus considering the plenty of natural provision there was a long time in the world, and the few spenders… there could be then little room for quarrels or contentions about property so established.” Locke believed that if all men were to treat each other and all of their property equally there would be no arguments or fights over anything because everyone has equal things and equal opportunities in life.

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Locke is one of the pioneers of the liberalism as he emphasizes the importance of the property. According to him, everything based upon protection and improvement of the property, which merely provided by legislative power. This can be happened if the society combined with the government, unlike Hobbes, Locke mentions, people have a right to ruin the state when the governor does not preserve liberty, life and property which are the basic needs, for them. Locke refers that “Tyranny is the exercise of power beyond right” by using this phrase, he argues that one who controlled the power, is used the power for his own private advantages, rather than what is good for commonwealth. Although being powerful does not mean to control over the weak

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In his Second Treatise of Government, Locke revealed his interests in new science, developing theories of education and knowledge (SMW, 34). One of the main points in his Treatise is that of the law of nature, where all men are in natural state of perfect freedom (SMW, 34). Locke argues, “Men being…by nature all free, equal, and independent,

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595 Words | 3 Pages

Locke had stated that when an executive act for his own benefit, and not to serve the ends of the people. He “degrades himself” and becomes “but a single private person without power,” at which point he no longer has any right to rule over the people. Locke expresses the idea of rebellion against an unjust government. By giving the idea of rebellion, he also reveals that a human’s rights have changed over the years and that a man now has inherent rights. It was because of his declaration that the statement, “give me liberty or give me death,” become popular among the American people.

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John Locke John Locke was a privileged and renowned English philosopher who proposed several theories in order to better governance. His theories were eventually implemented by the founding fathers and ended up having lifelong impacts on the American government we have today. Though his profound ideas have shaped the foundation of our government, some aspects of his legacy are negative. Evaluating Locke’s several ideas allows us to understand his philosophy’s positive and negative contributions to the American political system, and how he can improve upon them. One of Locke's most significant contributions to America is his two treatises, which pair with his emphasis on liberalism and their five characteristics.

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John Locke was a 17th-century philosopher and political thinker who created the basis of republican government and inspired the Founders of the United States, in particular, Thomas Jefferson. In agreeance with Thomas Hobbes’s theory of the origins of government coming into existence due to mankind in the form of social contracts, he argued that since people created government it should thus do what the people demand and protect their rights. This is detailed in his famous work Second Treatise of Civil Government in which he argues that rulers are given power through consent of those governed and thus must protect their human rights, which he believed included life, liberty, and property. If government were to fail in protecting those rights, the people had the right to overthrow the existing government for one which would uphold order and provide and protect those rights. He also argued that government had immense power that could be abused and lead to dangerous outcomes such as controlling those governed.

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in which he tackles problems concerning life, liberty, property, and, ultimately, the power that the people have over the government. However, to what extent can Locke?s beliefs be accepted? Can they justify peaceful protest? This essay will connect the beliefs expressed in

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John Locke stated, “Freedom of men under government is having a standing rule to live by, common to everyone in the society in question, and made by the legislative power

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In the Second Treatise of Civil Government, Locke asserts that we are free and equal persons with natural rights. However, due to our needs and the desire to possess goods, conflicts would be inevitable in the process and hence political authority is required to resolve conflicts and mete out penalties in a way that protects people’s rights. According to Locke, who has a more optimistic view of humanity compared to Hobbes, as a result of the disagreements among free and equal people in a state of nature, free and equal persons with good reason, consented to confer authority to someone else so as to be able to live in moral harmony. In a Lockean state, freedom is governed in a particular way to ensure that individuals are able to protect it. This appears to be a contradictory idea, but can be explained if we properly examine the concept of

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As a philosopher during the ‘social contract era’, Locke primarily focused on property in his Second Treatise of Government. For Locke, property was extremely important; he believed that people have a right to ‘life, liberty, and property’ (Locke 9). In his Second Treatise, Locke goes in depth describing the important components of property: what constitutes property, the right of enclosure, the duty of productivity, and the role which money plays in property. Locke’s philosophy surrounding property lays the framework for modern-day interpretations of property.

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1084 Words | 5 Pages

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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1104 Words | 5 Pages

However, this statement is not entirely true, if one mixes what one owns with what one does not own, it does not create self-ownership. Locke’s state of nature is then tainted and no longer includes equality and commonality among mankind. Locke repeats himself often in his arguments. He refers to his belief of natural reason and God’s words to deliver his theory of private property. He begins his discussion of property in the state of nature (Locke 6 sect.

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1442 Words | 6 Pages

Locke’s assumptions that humans are rational and led by reason, and the abundance of resources allowing private ownership of land, give a higher purpose to the government in a society than just physical security. Government, on all its levels, is protecting individuals’ property and creating and enforcing laws that will apply to everyone, even the sovereign. The “levels” of government embody a new idea proposed by Locke – the separation of powers. He argues that in order for the government not to be corrupt, it has to have separated legislative, executive and juridical powers which operate independently from each other’s influences. Therefore, he directly opposes Hobbes’ argument for absolute power: an absolute monarchy would be worse than the State of Nature since the sovereign holds the whole power of the people and now it is impossible to defeat him as an individual, which would not be the case in the State of Nature where everyone was equal.

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“Locke viewed society on a scale from subjugation to personal freedom and declared personal freedom to be the ideal. Hobbes feared anarchy” (Hillman, 2009, p. 2). But Like Hobbes, Locke agrees to a political authority but, he differs from Hobbes’ kind of political authority. If mankind’s natural condition in this circumstance is to reflect a justifiable political authority, Locke believes that, political authority, has to come from people, since mankind is rational and able to make decision based on his eternal morals, and the realities of alienable rights. Thus, "Freedom of Men under Government is, to have a standing Rule to live by" or, if in a state of nature, to be governed by "the Law of Nature".

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John Locke imagines a great deal less unnerving normal state. Individuals live in the last opportunity. The shared state is ethically right nor wrong, however exceptionally disorganized. To breaking point this problem, people choose to relinquish some of their opportunities to control life. The populace affirms energy to a ruler or government, and the legislatures ' sole reason for existing is to implement security and the belonging of natives.

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