John Locke's Argue Of Morality

The Enlightenment Period was the reformation of society, politics, and the economy. The Enlightenment Period was occurring throughout Europe during the 18th century. Traditional views were challenged by science and reasoning. Philosophers who had a great impact during the Enlightenment period included: John Locke, Voltaire and Montesquieu, Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Adam Smith. John Locke proposed that everyone was born free and had certain unalienable rights. Locke’s philosophy can be observed through sections of the United States Declaration of Independence.

In John Locke’s, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, Locke develops an argument for the existence of God. In the the following paper, I shall first reconstruct Lockes’ argument for his claim of God’s existence. I shall then identify what I take to be the weakest premise of the argument and explain why I find it in need of justification.

John Locke (29 August 1632 – 28 October 1704) is a English philosopher and physician regarded as one of the most influential of the Enlightenment thinkers and known as the "Father of Classical Liberalism”. Locke got a scholarship to Oxford University where he spent 30 years at Oxford, studying, tutoring, and writing. He wrote influential political science and philosophy. Locke 's famous theory had to do with the Social Contract theory. The Social Contract covers the origin of government and how much authority a state should have over an individual. In the Two Treatises of Government (1689), he defended the claim that men are naturally free and equal against claims that God had made all people naturally subject to a monarch. With both biblical and philosophical justifications, Locke argued in defense of constitutionalism. He believed God gave Adam natural rights like; life, liberty, and property in the book of Genesis and Adam passed it on to the rest of

In summary, I have covered the respective positions and views that both Locke and Descartes hold in respect with self-identity and consciousness. Therefore, based on the above, I am clearly in support of Locke's theory in comparison with the one his opponent. The distinct reasons why I consider such a position are discussed

Locke repeats himself often in his arguments. He refers to his belief of natural reason and God’s words to deliver his theory of private property. He begins his discussion of property in the state of nature (Locke 6 sect. 25). Locke’s state of nature demonstrates a state which entails perfect freedom and the right to one’s own actions and possessions (Locke 2 sect. 4). He then

John Locke and Baron de Montesquieu were political philosophers that debated the question of who was best fit to control the government. Locke and Montesquieu shared similar political beliefs such as natural rights and the separation of government powers. However, both philosophers did, in fact, have their personal views that helped them accomplish important achievements. John Locke published “Two Treatises of Government” and “ An Essay Concerning Human Understanding,” which present a detail philosophy of the mind and thought. Locke’s “An Essay Concerning Human Understanding,” lays out his philosophical project. Locke’s philosophical project consisted of discovering where our ideas come from, what an idea is, and to examine issues of faith

The American Revolutionary War came about after decades of grievances on the part of the American colonies, grievances which were put in place by the British Parliamentary system. The lack of American representation in parliament paired with the multitudes of acts designed to take advantage of the colonies were cause enough for the colonies to revolt and to overthrow their government. There are few who would disagree with the American’s justification for the revolution, would Locke be one of them? No he would not, the American colonies were fully justified under Lockean reasons for revolution, considering how long they endured the grievances and the legislature that was passed against them.

When comparing the two different accounts of English philosophers Thomas Hobbes and John Locke we must take into consideration a number of things such as the age in which they lived and the time in which they produced their philosophical writings. We will however find out that these two philosophers actually have a couple of things in which agree on even though most of their opinions clash. On one side we have Thomas Hobbes who lived in the time of the English Civil War (1642-1651) who provides a negative framework for his philosophical opinions in his masterpiece Leviathan and who advocates for philosophical absolutism . On the other side we have John Locke, living during the glorious revolution (1688-1689) he presents a positive attitude in his book The Second Treatise of Government and advocates for philosophical and biblical constitutionalism.

John Locke, a 17th century philosopher from England, was a man who contained many ideas and theories on how particular civilizations should operate. John Locke philosophized “that there was an unspoken law amongst men known as “The Law of Nature” (“state of nature” Locke). The “law of nature” depicts a community in which there was only moral law. Thus the “law of nature” portrays a “state of perfect freedom where all men share their equality” (“state of nature”4). This statement basically states that “no one has power over another and are free (Locke 4)” to govern themselves accordingly. Yet, this theory that man are equal and can govern themselves does not abide by abuse or harm to another. Locke states that “all mankind who abide by the law of nature are equal and may not

John Locke’s foremost action point was that everyone should be created equal and the laws we live by are the ones we

says that “the human society is essentially a series of market relations; and political society becomes a means of safeguarding private property and the system of economic relations rooted in property” (Macpherson, 1). John Locke (1632-1704), another eminent political thinker based his notion of individualism on the premise of theological justification. He views all individuals as being created equal in the eyes of the creator and therefore God reserves the right to ownership of all the individuals. And therefore it becomes incumbent on the part of an individual to recognise the right and freedom of the other individual . The basic essence of his theory of individualism is that an individual is expected to live within the confines of a social

Brogan’s work John Locke and Utilitarianism, Brogan interprets Locke’s Essay with the endeavor of elucidating on Locke’s liberal ideals on what should be considered the standard of morality. “The standard or criterion of morality (or “virtue”) is the good (interpreted as the happiness) of all” (Brogan, pg. 80). Locke has an egoistic notion of morality, in which the self-interest of others is what constitutes morality for him--and ultimately the greatest good, which extends to public happiness. “Locke is an empiricist in holding that the materials of knowing and choosing come from external senses or from the internal perceptions of the operations of the mind (within which are included pleasure and pain)” (Brogan, pg. 93). The will, for Locke, is merely an indicator of one’s ability to make a decision. The decision comes from the existence of the possibility to act or not act, in a situation that has a causal effect of good or

Human right can be defined as those inalienable privileges that are inherent to all human beings irrespective of their race, color, religion, language or any other status. A definition of human rights was given by the Scottish philosopher John Locke as “absolute moral claims or entitlement to life, liberty and property.” The Virginia declaration of rights of 1776 stated that, “ all men are by nature equally free and independent and have certain inherent rights of which when they enter a state of society, they cannot by any compact deprive or divest posterity.” In the case of Ogba v. The state, the supreme court extra-judicially declared that “a fundamental human right is one that cannot be waived by the government or any form of legislation.” These rights are all interrelated, interdependent and indivisible. Human rights are the basic standards without which people cannot live in worth.

Human is born with the natural ability of reasoning whether or not it is a gracious gift from God as claimed. According to natural law, human is capable of deciding whether an action is morally right or wrong. We do not create what is evil and good, rather, we discover what is right or wrong. Besides, humans are morally obliged to use their reasoning capability to discern what the laws are and subsequently acting in conformity with them. Therefore, there is no reason why divine law must be superior than man-made law when human is just as effective and arguably, even more effective. It is true that human law is self-imposed, capable of violation, subject to exception, modification and repeal. Human law can be binding in conscience if it is formed

Is religious faith normal, natural, or desirable? Does it serve an important function in the life of man, or is it, rather, an aggregation of pernicious superstitions, designed to soothe timid souls and blind man to truth by retarding his development?