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Relationship Between John Locke And The State Of Nature

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Register to read the introduction… Because it doesn’t matter how much we complain about poor management of the state’ dealings and/or regulations imposed to us. There are no excuses for resisting power because it is the only thing between us and what we most want to avoid, the State of Nature. John Locke had a different approach as to the kind of place the State of Nature is, and consequently his argument concerning the Social Contract and the relationship between men and authority varies. According to Locke, the State of Nature is the natural condition of mankind. In it men have perfect and complete liberty to conduct their life as they best determine, free from the interference of others. However, this doesn’t mean that men are free to do anything they please, or even anything they assume to be on their interest. Although there is no authority or government to punish individuals for disobedience, the State of nature is not a state without morality. Beings are presumed to be equal to one another, and therefore equally capable of discovering and bounding by the Law of Nature provided by God. In Locke’s view, these laws established the basis of all morality and commanded that we respect others especially in regards to their “life, health, liberty, or …show more content…
Ultimately, one would be better off rejecting the government and returning to the State of Nature, with hopes of constructing a better civil government in the future. Jean-Jacques Rousseau had two complementary social contract theories. The first one, clearly expressed in his Discourse on the Origin and Foundations of Inequality Among Men (Second Discourse), and the second one on The Social Contract published in 1762. According to Rousseau, the State of Nature was some sort of peaceful idealistic place. People lived solitary and uncomplicated lives. There was a relatively small population whose needs were satisfied by the abundance of nature and competition didn’t exist. Under these conditions individuals were morally pure and naturally endowed with sympathy, and were not inclined to

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