John Locke's State Of Human Nature

John Locke, believed that in the original state of nature, Men exist in their natural condition. While Hobbes advanced a state of nature in which there was war between contending individuals for the scarce resources available, concluding that the state is the only possible check human nature. The state of nature that Locke describes is one of "equality, wherein all power and jurisdiction is reciprocal, no one having more than another" (263). It does not give men license to do absolutely anything one please, it is a state in which "reason, which is that law, teaches all mankind who will but consult it" (263-264). None had a right to harm another's "life, health, liberty, or possessions” (263-264). The State of Nature is not a condition of individuals but is populated by mothers and fathers with their children, or families aka "conjugal society" (300). …show more content…
The state of nature is not necessarily good or bad but it is chaotic yet relatively peaceful. Locke’s claim is that individuals have a duty to respect the rights of others, even in the state of nature. The source of this duty, he says, is natural law (263-264). The Law of Nature, which is the basis of all morality was given to us by God because we all belong equally to God, and because we cannot take away that which is rightfully His, thus we are prohibited from harming one another. Everyone is under the law of nature where death is punishment in nature. Men, thus could dispose of their possessions and persons as they think fit, within the bounds of the law of nature, without asking leave or depending upon the will of any other man