Similarities Between Locke And Rousseau

Jean-Jacques Rousseau and John Locke were both philosophers that influenced the Enlightenment during the 17th and 18th centuries. During this time both Rousseau and Locke created and outlined specific concepts of man, and how man lives his life in society; in doing this, both Rousseau and Locke defined different ideas of property and its purpose in society. Using the texts of Rousseau and Locke, and each philosopher’s divergent definitions of property, laws, and government it is possible to determine that man’s ability to possess property is necessary for individual rights and security. With regards to the definition of property, both Rousseau and Locke write of quite different concepts. In Second Treatise, Locke contemplates that God gifted Earth to humanity, with man thus being responsible for caring and producing on Earth. To do this man must continually offer his labor, and through his labor is man able to obtain property, as explained by Locke, “Every man has a property in his own person. This no body has any right to but himself. The labour of his body, and the work of his hands, we may say, are properly his,” (Locke 18). Thus, Locke argues that property can be boiled down to man’s labor and the fruits of …show more content…
Unlike Locke, however, Rousseau suggests that man must return to a State of Nature, in which man may become a state in which, “private individuals become equals again,” (Rousseau 68-69). Consequently, Rousseau, unlike Locke, sees government and law more as a hindrance. From this, one is able to determine that Rousseau would argue that property is an undermining effect on government. For, this is evident through Rousseau’s analysis that property will inevitably lead to government, which will in turn lead to inequality, and eventually the disintegration of