Two Treatises of Government

metaphorical social contract constructed between the ruler and the ruled with the goal of creating a mutually beneficial relationship. In doing so, the human state of nature could be improved by the added order and stability the state would provide. Where the two theorists begin to split paths is in their perception of how much better off citizens should be after to submitting to authority, compared to how they were before in nature and the amount of rights that should be retained after entering…

John Locke’s Second Treatise of Government highly criticized Thomas Hobbes’ Leviathan’s political ideology and view of human nature. The political philosophies of both John Locke and Thomas Hobbes, although similar in some ways are equally opposite. This paper will explore contrasting beliefs of both philosophers and critique John Locke’s Second Treatise of Government from a Hobbesian point of view. It is important to note that Thomas Hobbes and John Locke were not born in the same time period…

In 1689, John Locke published Two Treatises of Government, a politically philosophical essay designed to attack patriarchalism and alternatively offer ideas for a more civilized society. In the Second Treatise Locke develops the theory of ‘state of nature’ which entails that all individuals govern themselves and thus govern their own property. “To properly understand political power and trace its origins, we must consider the state that all people are in naturally. That is a state of perfect…

Title: The Declaration of Independence as Basis of the Government and guided by the Constitutional Principles of America the Rule of Law: Main Pillar of the American Constitution. Introduction The Declaration of Independence could be considered as the opening document in American History, especially in the sense that it announced the principles that guided the founding of the nation, which in many ways leaves a legacy that directly affects its governance. This excerpt has pertinent…

about parliament and math and science. Europeans didn’t want to continue their understanding unless they could accept all the basic principles of science and government as true. Once they started looking, they started to find answers. They began to have a better understanding of how the universe works and what is the best form of government for their country. Once they had a better understanding of things, lots began to change in Europe and…

though humans have a right to their state of nature, they must secure their liberties with a government that will protect them. This concept of the state of nature that Locke sets up is the primary foundation for a Democratic Republic. Locke bestows the power on the individual to have a voice in their government, but also the authority to strip the power away. Written in the late 17th century, the Second Treatise encapsulates Locke’s thoughts on how people can govern themselves, but this idea…

than what was allowed through the church and monarchy. If citizens disagreed with the monarchy’s view of religion, they risked everything from loss of property to execution. But Voltaire, in his Philosophical Dictionary 1764 (Document 1) and his Treatise on Toleration (Document 6), wrote that religious tolerance is an essential element in any society, and that every human is born with natural rights that cannot be controlled or taken by anyone, including a monarch. According to Voltaire, one of…

Treatise 4-6: John Locke defines Political Power with the use of state of nature or simply the natural instinct a person has. All people are naturally in the state of perfect freedom. They have the ability to control their own actions or do as they please. In this state everyone is treated equally and nobody is over or under powered. People will always be present in this state unless their freedom is stripped from them. The only possible way a person would lose their right to freedom…

own, and thereby makes it his property” (Second Treatise, 288). People gain private property by utilizing that property for their own benefit. Furthermore, Locke believes the only way that people separate from their natural freedoms, and join “civil society is by agreeing with other men to join and unite into a community, for their comfortable, safe, and peaceable living one amongst another, in a secure enjoyment of their properties” (Second Treatise, 331). Locke is not only concerned with the…

required to do. Citizens have a political obligation to obey the government so that…