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Sir Robert Filmer's Two Treatises Of Government

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“Two Treatises of Government: In the Former, The False Principles, and Foundation of Sir Robert Filmer, and His Followers, Are Detected and Overthrown. The Latter Is an Essay Concerning The True Original, Extent, and End of Civil Government.” was written by John Locke sometime between 1680 and 1689. The work is divided into the First Treatise and the Second Treatise. The First Treatise is focused on the refutation of a previously published argument made by Sir Robert Filmer in support of the theory that the power to govern is divinely ordained by the Christian god upon a specific individual in the person of the monarch. Fiilmer’s work was thus titled, “Patriarcha.” In “Two Treatises of Government” Locke examines each of Filmer's argument points
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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 wrote Second Treatise of Civil Government,

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In Two Treatises on Government it states that “And thus, in the state of nature, one man comes by a power over

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Henceforth, his king and any other king needed to embrace not only the entire country but the will of the people, simultaneously being immune from judgment of anyone mortal. This paper will set up the key differences between both John Locke and Bishop Bossuet arguments on Monarchy. Locke beliefs are what the constitution was built upon. In order to protect the well-being and property of others

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In the Second Treatise of Government, John Locke introduces many innovative ideas, such as the government’s role in protecting its citizens’ natural rights, consent of the governed, and the right of the people to overthrow a government that did not properly protect their rights, all of which played an important role in the development of the French and American Revolutions. In the Second Treatise, one of the main ideas articulated by Locke is that a government is formed in order to protect the people’s natural rights, or as Locke states , “for the mutual preservation” of the people’s “lives, liberties, and estates, which [Locke] call[s] by the general name ‘property’ ” (Locke, p. 37). Locke considers these three rights to be the most valuable

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Introduction Robert Filmer (1588 – 26 May 1653) and John Locke (August 29, 1632 – October 28, 1704) both wrote theory on government. They explored a myriad of topics ranging from the state of nature to the dissolution of a government. One particular concept that they both address is the relationship of the father of a family to the king of a state. When discussing this subject, both authors are similar in their argument structure, their idea of the role of the first father, and his fatherly obligation to care for his seed, but they differ on the natural rule, autonomy, and political power of the father. Filmer’s Argument Sir Robert Filmer was an English political theorist and in his greatest known work, Patriarcha, he argued that one could attain the greatest liberty in the world if they resided under a monarchy (Filmer, 4.1).

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For instance, if two men discovered a tree and one of the man claimed it and demanded the other to step distance off their property, but refused to comply, war succeeds. The mentality of both men are developed through the idea of absolute freedom, which is the ability to make one’s own decisions without the interference with an apparent authority. Enlightenment philosopher Locke comes to realization that before relinquishing some of their rights to be governed that they exist in a state of perfect freedom and liberty, constructing his essay on classical liberalism. In his response to Sir Robert Filmer, a political theorist who defended divine rights, Locke alludes to the same biblical text as his opposer to justify why all individuals have perfect freedom. Without mentioning his name, Locke differentiates the Greco-Roman magistrates and the general father (quite possibly Adam) and their authoritative roles in society.

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Second Treatise of Government proposes government as a naturally occurring consequence of a state of nature. Inequality caused by market-based economies is an intentional and necessary path that bridges the spread between the state of nature to the existence of a commonwealth. In Locke’s presentation, unequal possession seems to be an inevitable consequence. This inequality, however, is a necessary transition out of the state of nature. The agreement to currency, and the injustice it brings, is the basis for the overall consent to the Commonwealth.

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Society began to dispute civil rights and liberty-democracy from the seventeenth. John Locke, an English political philosopher whose working had produced a revolutionary influence to Enlightenment and even established a foundation for modern liberalism. The common understanding of Locke that included his criticism of the authoritarian government and the idea of liberal-democracy, which inspired many thinkers and philosophers on the world. Two Treatises of Government, Locke’s most influential work, which contributed to constitutionalism and provided the original concept of civil government. In this essay, it will describe the Locke’s definition of liberty that included a description of ‘property’, the Lockean social contract with state of natural,

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When comparing the two different accounts of English philosophers Thomas Hobbes and John Locke we must take into consideration a number of things such as the age in which they lived and the time in which they produced their philosophical writings. We will however find out that these two philosophers actually have a couple of things in which agree on even though most of their opinions clash. On one side we have Thomas Hobbes who lived in the time of the English Civil War (1642-1651) who provides a negative framework for his philosophical opinions in his masterpiece Leviathan and who advocates for philosophical absolutism . On the other side we have John Locke, living during the glorious revolution (1688-1689) he presents a positive attitude in his book The Second Treatise of Government and advocates for philosophical and biblical constitutionalism. It is important that we know that the state of nature describes a pre- political society prior to the social contract.

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John Locke and Baron de Montesquieu were political philosophers that debated the question of who was best fit to control the government. Locke and Montesquieu shared similar political beliefs such as natural rights and the separation of government powers. However, both philosophers did, in fact, have their personal views that helped them accomplish important achievements. John Locke published “Two Treatises of Government” and “ An Essay Concerning Human Understanding,” which present a detail philosophy of the mind and thought. Locke’s “An Essay Concerning Human Understanding,” lays out his philosophical project.

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Instead, it is much more important to look at how Locke views the relationship between the limits of the church and the limits of government, and how those two limits interact. One of the foundational aspects of Locke’s Letter Concerning Toleration is the separate sphere philosophy of the church and state duality. Much like the separate sphere philosophy of gender that arrived in the 19th century, both spheres of the church and the state are supposed to remain relatively separate. The goal of the magistrate is to make earthly life better through the preservation of our natural rights, whereas the goal of the church is to secure the good life of its congregation by promoting eternal salvation.

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This means that the main reason the government has the power is so it can maintain the rights that people should be born with. The document also declares that “Whensoever...the legislative shall transgress this fundamental rule of society...by this breach of trust they forfeit the power the people had put into their hands for quite contrary ends, and it devolves to the people; who have a right to resume their original liberty, and by the establishment of a new legislative...provide for their own safety and security” (Locke). Just like the Constitution, Two Treatises of Government also affirms that the people have given

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Because man is free and equal in the state of nature, he must be assured that he will still be so when he enters society, thus for Locke the establishment of the state occurs on the basis of assured equality without which there would be no incentive to enter into society. In support of this severance he says; “I esteem it above all things necessary to distinguish exactly the business of civil government from that of religion and to settle the just bounds that lie between the one and the other” (Locke, Toleration, 2). Every member of the commonwealth, regardless of affiliation, merits equality under the law. In spite of legislation protecting each individual, conflict will inevitably erupt, if not between a government and its people then among the people themselves. In Locke’s Essay Concerning Human Understanding, he discusses the progression of man’s thought process; how we develop opinions and ideas, as well as the role religion plays in our general understanding of life.

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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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