The Impact Of John Locke's Second Treatise On Civil Government

In the late 17th and 18th hundreds in Europe, philosophers gathered to discuss political, religious, social, and economic questions to create solutions for these topics. This period had bright new ideas and high intellect. This period was also known as the, “Age of Enlightenment.” Some main ideas brought up by the philosophers John Locke, Voltaire, Adam Smith, and Mary Wollstonecraft for the enlightenment was freedom for each individual. This is seen through the writings of John Locke on political freedoms, Voltaire on his writings of freedom of religion, Adam Smith on freedom of commerce, and lastly Mary Wollstonecraft on freedom for women. Regarding the thoughts of John Locke, readers can quickly identify what Locke wanted to address. In the book, Second Treatise on Civil Government, Locke discusses the state of nature of people, or their natural instincts. Locke focuses on political (personal) freedom and a thought from him is that all people as individuals could disregard the natural law in the state of nature. For example Locke writes, “(W)e must consider, what state all men are naturally in, and that is, a state of perfect freedom to order their actions, and dispose [manage] of their possessions and persons, as they think fit, within the bounds of the law of nature,” (Locke). Locke

Adam Smith’s main idea of trade was for people to gain money and prosper their life. In Smith’s work, The Wealth of Nations, he writes, “Every man … is left perfectly free to pursue his own interest in his own way.” (Smith). This shows readers the idea of the free individual process. Later, Smith also writes, “By pursuing his own interest he frequently promotes that the society more [effectively] than when he really intends to promote it.” (Smith). Once again, ideas brought up from a philosopher shows that the individual has the right to do as it pleases. Readers now see that three philosophers share similar