Locke’s Political Philosophy
1. Natural Law and Natural Rights
Perhaps the most central concept in Locke’s political philosophy is his theory of natural law and natural rights. The natural law concept existed long before Locke as a way of expressing the idea that there were certain moral truths that applied to all people, regardless of the particular place where they lived or the agreements they had made. The most important early contrast was between laws that were by nature, and thus generally applicable, and those that were conventional and operated only in those places where the particular convention had been established. This distinction is sometimes formulated as the difference between natural law and positive law.
Natural law is also distinct from divine law in that the latter, in the Christian tradition, normally referred to those laws that God had directly revealed through prophets and other inspired writers. Natural law can be discovered by reason alone and applies to all people, while divine law can be discovered only through God’s special revelation and applies only to those to whom it is revealed and whom God specifically indicates are to be bo
John Locke is one of the most important modern philosophers. He contributed, most famously – though often misunderstood by people who name-drop him – to political philosophy; but Locke also made important contributions to philosophy more broadly (including epistemology, theology, and labor theory in economics). I have a comprehensive summary of Locke’s Second Treatise which you can begin to read here. In this post I would like to examine the internal logic of Locke’s core argument that runs throughout the book: how the law of nature is the law of self-preservation and how this becomes the basis of property and that all politics is about the preservation of property which is why property is really the only “natural right” in Locke because life and liberty are intertwined with it.
Locke is famously remembered for stating that man’s natural rights are “life, liberty, and property.” At first glance it would seem as if he settles on three natural rights. In reality they are all intertwined together – a result of the implicit monistic materialism of Locke’s broader metaphysical and ontological philosophy. While Locke is, properly a
Property and Ownership
1. Issues of Analysis and Definition
More than most policy areas dealt with by political philosophers, the discussion of property is beset with definitional difficulties. The first issue is to distinguish between property and private property.
Strictly speaking, ‘property’ is a general term for the rules that govern people’s access to and control of things like land, natural resources, the means of production, manufactured goods, and also (on some accounts) texts, ideas, inventions, and other intellectual products. Disagreements about their use are likely to be serious because resource-use matters to people. They are particularly serious where the objects in question are both scarce and necessary. Some have suggested that property relations only make sense under conditions of scarcity (Hume [] , pp. –98). But other grounds of conflict are possible: there may be disagreements about how a given piece of land should be used, which stem from the history or symbolic significance of that piece of land, whether land in general is scarce or not. (Intellectual property provides an example of property rules that do not respond directly
Summary
Locke begins his discussion of property by alluding to Filmer’s theory of patriarchalism, which suggested that only an absolute monarch descended from Adam would have any right to property because God gave Adam dominion over all the land. Locke disagrees and writes that he will spend the rest of this chapter demonstrating how God provided for mankind in common to have property, even if they do not form a compact.
The fruits of the Earth, including animals, land, and vegetation, are to be enjoyed by all men because, as Locke points out in Chapter II, no one man is born with dominion over another. Of course, there must be some way to appropriate these necessities of life to men in order for them to be as beneficial as possible and to avoid conflict.
The first topic Locke addresses is that of man’s own person, or, the labor of his body. This belongs exclusively to him and he may reap the work of his hands. When he removes something from nature through his hard work, it is no longer the common property of all mankind but belongs to himself exclusively. If a man picks up acorns under a tree, they belong to him at the moment of their gathering (as opposed to when he ate t
Biographies you may also like
Current biography of john nash artist John Northcote Nash, was the younger brother of the war artist Paul Nash (). Born in London's Kensington in , Nash and his family moved to Buckinghamshire in It was .
Japheth aguilar block alex nuyles biography Ángela Aguilar was born in Los Angeles while her mother was accompanying her father Pepe Aguilar on a music tour. She hails from the family of ‘La Dinastía Aguilar’ (The Aguilar Missing: alex nuyles.
John williamson economist biography of barack obama On November 4, , Barrack Obama defeated John McCain in the United States presidential election. When Obama took office on January 20, , he inherited an economy that had .
Shashank bali vadhu biography of michael jordan Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, ), also known by his initials MJ, is an American businessman and former professional basketball player. He played 15 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) between and , winning six NBA championships with the Chicago Bulls. He was integral in See more.
Satgur nanak by yamla jatt biography Lal Chand Yamla Jatt Punjabi Poetry/Geet: Satgur Nanak Teri Leela Niari Ey: Satgur Nanak Aaja Sangat Pai Pukardi: Jag Dia Chanana Toon Mukh Na Luka Ve: Meria Veera Shahi Faqira Missing: biography.
Zakia shahnawaz biography examples To inspire your own bio-writing efforts, we‘ve curated over 25 of the most engaging real-life examples from across industries, roles and seniority levels. These range .
Linzi stoppard biography channels Check out this Interview with Linzi Stoppard - Electric Violinist and FUSE