John Locke's Second Treatise On Government

Judging from what I have read and seen off the videos shown to us for each philosopher, I believe that the biggest influence on the U.S constitution would have to be John Locke. He focused on the issues that to this day we are still concerned over which are; who should rule over us, how we should educate our children and what to do with those that have different religions from us. As mentioned, Locke had argued against Thomas Hobbes social contract so that people can have the right to over throw the ruler if the ruler acted like a tyrant. This became a big influence on the democratic revolution because to this day as we know it we still have a say in which ruler (president and government) we want to expel from giving us orders so long as we

The Mayflower compact, and John Locke’s Second Treatise of Government helped establish the principles of freedom, independence, and natural rights that were used to shape the ideas on which our founders created the Declaration of Indepence. The Mayflower compact was important because it was the idea that people had the right to determine the form of government in which they wanted to be governed (Nobles 1215). This concept was important because it was based on biblical principles that they got their rights from God, not from a king, government, or ruling elite (Nobles 1215). John Locke’s Second Treatise of Government was important because it helped create civil societies in which people would give up order to receive protection and security from their government(Locke 1690). This was important because it created a peaceful living and order, but also the people still had the right to overthrow their government if they felt they were not representing the people anymore and abusing power(Locke 1690). The Mayflower Compact and John Locke’s ideas helped our founders shape the U.S to create a better future, and set forth a foundation in which future principles could branch from.

John Locke was a philosopher and political scientist. He had many interests and produced a number of writings that influenced future leaders. One of these leaders was Thomas Jefferson, who was involved with the aid of America and the act gaining independence from Britain. The Declaration of Independence and Locke’s views on government contain many similar aspects. These ideas includes the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness (natural rights); the protection that is provided by the government for these rights; and the altering or abolishment of government if it fails to provide and protect the rights of the people. There may also be some differentiating ideas regarding these two sources. An example of this may be that, even though Jefferson and Locke agreed that the people should be able to overthrow the government if their rights were encroached upon, Hobbes believed that this would lead to a state of nature, which wouldn’t end greatly.

This source depicts an authoritarian or totalitarian view of what a governing body should look like. The author suggests that the primary objective of government should be the “control of the citizens”, and therefore that the individuals should entirely obey said government. This ideology is counter to that of liberalism as it infringes on the natural rights of its citizens, and it is undemocratic as this society would not have the consent of the governed as a whole. Furthermore, counters the rule of law because the author believes the authority should never be challenged, and therefore the author suggests that the authority is exempt of these laws. A thinker such as Hobbes would agree with the author of this source as he believed that without a strong government it would lead to nation wide chaos, such as that that the author describes through the use of the phrase, “A society that allows authority to be challenged will never succeed.”. Additionally, Locke would disagree with all parts of this source, as he believed that individuals know for themselves what is best and therefore should have the freedom to make their own decisions. For the second sentence of this source Locke and Rousseau would both disagree as they believed that consent of the governed was vital to society, which directly contradicts the authors issues with the challenging

These rights are the rights to life, liberty, and estate. Everybody needs these rights, even people who are malevolent. By figuring out what life would be like in a state of nature, Locke was able to figure out what the government needs to fulfill in order to protect those rights which would not be protected with the state of nature. Even when were were still English colonies, we wanted the King to protect our rights. The government provides and strives to keep us safe and protect our rights whilst also benefiting the rest of the country. Locke states in his: an essay concerning the true original, extent and end of civil government, “Which is done 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, and a greater security against any that are not of it.” Locke believed government was formed when people unite together to help protect their rights to “estate, life, and

John Locke is a famous and influential 17th century English philosopher and political theorist who not only influenced and laid the ground work for the Enlightenment, but who also influenced the foundations of the American Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. Being one of the authors of the Social Contract Theory, he paved the way for democracy, republicanism and liberalism. One of his most important and notable work’s to this day is the “Two Treatises of Civil Government,” which is the document in which the American founding fathers accredited their work to as they used his political theories to draft both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.

In John Locke’s Second Treatise of Government, Locke focuses on the definition and function of property in chapter four. Locke wants to argue that man can attain private property in several ways (Socrates 6 sect. 25). Locke believed that there are two arguments for the acquisition of private property in a state of nature. First the labor-mixing argument and the value-adding argument (Locke 7 sect. 27). His argument states that if one mixes one’s labor with unknown land or resources, one then owns the unowned land or resources (Locke 7 sect. 27). However, this statement is not entirely true, if one mixes what one owns with what one does not own, it does not create self-ownership. Locke’s state of nature is then tainted and no longer includes equality and commonality among mankind.

In his Second Treatise of Government, Locke revealed his interests in new science, developing theories of education and knowledge (SMW, 34). One of the main points in his Treatise is that of the law of nature, where all men are in natural state of perfect freedom (SMW, 34). Locke argues, “Men being…by nature all free, equal, and independent,

By explicitly listing the different elements of civil interest, Locke sets relatively clear boundaries for government control. Additionally, Locke places far greater emphasis on the government leader’s responsibility to the people than Mussolini. Locke also states that “God certainly appointed government to restrain the partiality and violence of men” (pg. 86). The leader’s responsibility to the people further indicates Locke’s belief that government should exist to serve the people and to minimize negative human actions. The conflict between the Fascist regime in Fatherland and Locke’s political theory is the involvement government should have with its

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.

New England was fed up with the Church of England and the Puritans wanted to recreate their own religion which they thought was more what God had believed was the intended belief. They both decided that neither of them like the way England was set up and said that England was no good for their beliefs. They planned to leave England and go to the new world to set up a life where their children had the chance to be raised in a perfect society with no corruption. Concentrated on town life and industries, they made a living off of fishing, whaling and shipbuilding. Whale oil was key because it made their lamps. Farming was useful for crops like wheat but corn, pumpkin and beans were planted because they were able to grow in the poor soil they had.

Locke’s ideas centered around the protection of natural rights and the authority of the governing body. Everyone shared the same natural rights and “may not, unless it be to do justice on an offender, take away, or impair the life, or what tends to the preservation of the life, the liberty, health, limb, or goods of another” (Locke 38). Locke believed that people would come together and create a society where they are governed “for the mutual preservation of their lives, liberties and estates, which I call by the general name, property” (Locke 47). Locke’s focus was on the purpose of government protecting those natural

He wrote in this book that, “This fatherly authority there, or right of fatherhood, in our A.’s sense, is a divine unalterable right of sovereignty, whereby a father or a prince hath an absolute, arbitrary, unlimited, and unlimitable power over the lives, liberties, and estates of his children and subjects; so that he may take or alienate their estates, sell, castrate, or use their persons as he pleases, they being all his slaves, and he lord or proprietor of every thing, and his unbounded will their law (Locke, 12).” He told people that there are rights own by every mankind, which can not be taken away by others, and he stated that government is needed for subduing chaos in the state of nature, where people protect and gather resources of their free will. To sum up, civil society is built upon need for protection of property, which includes people, and the rights and estates they own. Another important augment, the social contract, stated

Thomas Jefferson did not write the Declaration of Independence on his own, for much of his ideas were not his own but others. Indeed, there is ample evidence that he borrowed from the

Everyone has a perspective of their own about the government whether it be good or bad. Ancient Greek philosopher Plato and English philosopher John Locke both discuss the topic of government in their literatures. In the Republic by Plato, Plato introduces this concept of a just city. In this city, he believes that the older and wisest person(s) should rule as they are very knowledgeable. Everyone is born innately different according to Plato. Only those who are born with true philosophical understanding can rule. In the Second Treatise by John Locke, Locke addresses the state of nature, which is essentially equality and freedom. Even though people have liberty, they still need to obey natural laws. On the contrary of Plato’s just city, Locke believes that absolute authority is not a civil government. A civil society is where the majority rules. In the conclusion of this paper, I will have illustrated that Plato’s government view is more valid than of Locke’s.