Writing in the 17th Century, Locke’s ideas about the relationship between the individual and the state have had far reaching implications, with the idea that government exists to serve its citizens rather than having a ‘Divine Right’ having progressed from being considered radical to being the dominant belief in political thinking today. Locke believed that all men were naturally in a state of “perfect freedom to order their actions and dispose of their possessions and persons….within the bounds of the law of nature” (Gough 1948, pp.4) and that whilst perfect freedom led to what he called ‘inconveniences’ it was the government’s responsibility to preserve these freedoms so far as possible. However, despite the merit of his arguments which have
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Indeed, Alasdair Macintyre claimed that his work was so deeply religious that it was unfit to be taught in U.S. Public Schools (Gencer 2010, pp.324). The premise of Locke’s argument for natural equality was that he claimed God did not grant Adam any special authority over his children thus meaning that Adam’s direct decedents did not have any special claim to govern (Gencer 2010, pp 327). Although this could have provided a problem, this deficiency can be overlooked as Locke’s idea of natural law is detectable through secular, rational means as demonstrated by the works of Rothbard (Rothbard 1983, pp.4) meaning that Locke’s reliance on religion can be dismissed as a product of its time (Roberts and Sutch 2012 2nd ed, pp.84-5).
However it is evident when analysing what Locke sees as natural rights that his model of government fails to preserve the natural freedoms of citizens. Thus Simmons argued that, it must be concluded that Lockean Political Philosophy leads to Philosophical Anarchism in which it can’t be said that citizens have any political obligations (Simmons 1995, cited in Morris 1995, pp.198) since trans-generational consent cannot amount to us consenting to be bound by majority rule, no citizen can be said to have given explicit consent, making all government authority …show more content…
Locke’s major concern about the state of nature was that men would be biased towards their own cause in executing natural law, making an independent arbitrator necessary (Gough 1948, pp.62-63). Whilst it is true that independent arbitrators are needed to settle disputes, the development of capitalism since the time of Locke’s writing means that there is now a mechanism for providing this service without coercion; the free market. Private police agencies would provide defence and settle their client’s disputes through private courts thus meaning an independent arbitrator can be provided without coercing individuals and infringing on their natural rights (Rothbard 1978, 215-271) also providing greater protection against corruption since should a private court or police agency be seen to be corrupt by consumers, they would cancel their subscriptions and use different providers; providing a strong constraint on their power to abuse individuals (Rothbard 1978,
Indeed, Alasdair Macintyre claimed that his work was so deeply religious that it was unfit to be taught in U.S. Public Schools (Gencer 2010, pp.324). The premise of Locke’s argument for natural equality was that he claimed God did not grant Adam any special authority over his children thus meaning that Adam’s direct decedents did not have any special claim to govern (Gencer 2010, pp 327). Although this could have provided a problem, this deficiency can be overlooked as Locke’s idea of natural law is detectable through secular, rational means as demonstrated by the works of Rothbard (Rothbard 1983, pp.4) meaning that Locke’s reliance on religion can be dismissed as a product of its time (Roberts and Sutch 2012 2nd ed, pp.84-5).
However it is evident when analysing what Locke sees as natural rights that his model of government fails to preserve the natural freedoms of citizens. Thus Simmons argued that, it must be concluded that Lockean Political Philosophy leads to Philosophical Anarchism in which it can’t be said that citizens have any political obligations (Simmons 1995, cited in Morris 1995, pp.198) since trans-generational consent cannot amount to us consenting to be bound by majority rule, no citizen can be said to have given explicit consent, making all government authority …show more content…
Locke’s major concern about the state of nature was that men would be biased towards their own cause in executing natural law, making an independent arbitrator necessary (Gough 1948, pp.62-63). Whilst it is true that independent arbitrators are needed to settle disputes, the development of capitalism since the time of Locke’s writing means that there is now a mechanism for providing this service without coercion; the free market. Private police agencies would provide defence and settle their client’s disputes through private courts thus meaning an independent arbitrator can be provided without coercing individuals and infringing on their natural rights (Rothbard 1978, 215-271) also providing greater protection against corruption since should a private court or police agency be seen to be corrupt by consumers, they would cancel their subscriptions and use different providers; providing a strong constraint on their power to abuse individuals (Rothbard 1978,