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John Locke's Second Treatise Of Civil Government

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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 …show more content…

If free and equal persons are able to do anything they want, there is a significant chance that someone else’s freedom would be taken away from them in one way or other. In this case, no one is truly free to exercise their natural rights to life and property among other things. However, if this freedom is regulated through the existence of an impartial authority, then we essentially are able to better protect our freedom. The desire to protect our freedom manifests in the formation of governments, and this manifestation, while somehow limiting our freedom in the strictest sense, allows us to have a better grasp of it. The horizons of our freedom may have shrunken, but our freedom is now safer and more deeply rooted. Locke himself mentioned that “The end of law is not to abolish or restrain, but to preserve and enlarge

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Szilard’s Last Resort Imagine being the ultimate decision maker responsible for deciding if the world’s deadliest weapon should be used on your enemy’s cities. In 1945, this was the position Harry S. Truman was in, but fortunately, he did have advisers who were willing to voice their opinions. Leo Szilard’s petition to the president claims that the atomic bomb should not be used on Japan based on the current stage of the war.

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Locke stated, “And this puts men out of a state of nature into that of a commonwealth, by setting up a judge on earth, with

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New England was fed up with the Church of England and the Puritans wanted to recreate their own religion which they thought was more what God had believed was the intended belief. They both decided that neither of them like the way England was set up and said that England was no good for their beliefs. They planned to leave England and go to the new world to set up a life where their children had the chance to be raised in a perfect society with no corruption. Concentrated on town life and industries, they made a living off of fishing, whaling and shipbuilding. Whale oil was key because it made their lamps.

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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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John Locke views civil society—a group that is under the authority of an exclusive leader who is in charge of protecting their welfare through legislation—as a crucial repellant to absolute monarchy as well as vital to protecting an individual’s property, because its origin which is the paternal model where an individual gives up certain rights in return for protection from an executive. In his Second Treatise on Government, Locke pushes the idea that God did not intend for a man to be alone, but to have the option of joining a society amongst other men. Continuing with this notion, he explains the origins of the civil society through the paternal model which he considers as the beginning of society of people coming together under one man.

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It is evident that John Locke’s role in political philosophy is prominent and has significantly aided the development Western government. Overall, Locke believed that if a society could facilitate a government that didn’t violate anyone’s right to life, liberty, health, and possessions, they would all live a life of

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In "Second Treatise on Civil Government (1689)" by John Locke, the philosopher states his theory about the origin of government was from the will of the people and that the people has the right to change their rulers and state. In order for a union to exist, people as a whole must be equal in the sense that social class does not affect ones influence on government because every person is born with the same opportunities. Unquestionably, we all have natural rights that law cannot take away from us, but there are some things that people must follow to keep peace in the state. Granted the people are who decide how government should be and who our next rulers, are but there are times where the state makes the wrong decisions and rebellions/revolutions

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John Locke once said, "The end of law is, not to abolish or restrain, but to preserve and enlarge freedom."1 Throughout history, the fight for human rights has been an on going battle that has been reviewed and adjusted as time progresses. Before the Enlightenment, people believed the government was not protecting humans and their rights. In Europe during the 17th and 18th century, Enlightenment thinkers stepped out of boundaries and challenged the established order. The American Revolution and French Revolution were inspired by ideals of John Locke and other Enlightenment thinkers.

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Later in his work, Locke further articulates these risks, saying that without the “law of nature” that humans are bound to, everyone may act at their own discretion, leading to a state of persistent conflict (289). To summarize, both refer to the dangers of a state of nature, and describe states of war existing in this primeval

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Nonetheless, if the government fails to protect our property or rights, we can rebel against him and remove him from his place. Locke’s law creates a government, that can run the society peacefully, and the law of the society is based on practical reasons. Locke thinks the majority rules is the best system of government. Locke has a positive view of ‘human nature’. He thinks men are good, and they are born with natural rights.

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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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The ideologies displayed in John Locke’s Second Treatise on Civil Government are in complete contrast to the experiences of William and Ellen Craft in Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom. John Locke’s work is known to have influenced the founders of the United States government, and his values can be seen in the establishing documents e.g. the Declaration of Independence and Constitution of the United States. Moreover, Locke’s ideals have had an influence on the values of United States citizens, which has affected western political thought overtime. William and Ellen Craft’s decision to take the risk to escape slavery was initiated and verified by the words of Thomas Jefferson within the Declaration of Independence, “We hold these truths to

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A country based on an individual's natural rights and free will, in the land of opportunity, being an American citizen has a very important role in our society. Electing local and national government officials, and making changes in your community is evident through your democratic elections. But what key ideas and elements lay the foundation for a functional and effective governing body? The fundamental ideas of Baron de Montesquieu, John Locke, and the English Bill of Rights all preach the same values of limited government run by the people, and are all assets that were indoctrinated in the creation of the U.S. constitution.

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In the republic democracy of the United States of America, the Founders of our Nation created a system of separation of powers with checks and balances. Our Founders used the philosophy of John Locke in Second Treatise of Government, to give us our “natural rights” and what the state of nature means. For John Locke, the legislature and executive branches must remain separate, for a country to tread past the state of nature and into a governing body. He gives clear insight to what powers each of the branches should hold. Including what should happen in a civil crisis or emergency.

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-Locke was born into a quiet Somerset village in 1632 and he graduated from Harvard University. Locke was a man who benefited financially from all of this: he was a secretary to the lord proprietors of Carolina, council of trade and plantation, invested in the royal Africa company, where Britain used to buy slave from west Africa, and Locker ended to owner land in Carolina. “the state of nature is in many ways the central concept at work in Locke’s two Treatises of Government. It is the concept with which Locke chooses to introduce the Second Treatises. And it is only against and by means of the state of nature that locker offers us accounts of political obligation and resistance” (Simmons).

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