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Locke/ Rousseau Toleration

“The French ideal envisions a uniform, secularized French identity as the best guarantor of national unity and the separation of church and state” (NYT, 1). President Chirac and the National Assembly are attempting to pass a statute banning most religious symbols from public schools. This ban is primarily aimed at Muslim girls who wear “various degrees of swathing on their heads” in the public school yard as well as other symbols that are deemed too large. Essentially, the main goal is to pin “republicans” against those considered to be “extremists” which will lead to a deeper cultural divide in France. Although Locke and Rousseau never commented on this specific issue, Rousseau believes that tolerance is important in expressing the general will of the common good and would be against the banning of these symbols. Locke emphasizes the individual and the will of the majority and although supports some religious toleration would allow for the banning of the symbols. Important concepts such as civic duty, morality, and freedom will be further explained to emphasize these points.

In Rousseau’s state of nature we enjoy the physical freedom of having no restraints on our behavior, which drastically changes when indiv


iduals enter into civil society. “Alone, idle and always near danger, savage man must like to sleep, and to be a light sleeper like animals which, thinking little” (Discourse, 112). The savage man has one simple need, self-preservation because he is alone and does not have to provide for anyone else. Reason and intellect are not present in this state which results in individuals being virtually free. Once society forms humans become dependant on each other and develop needs. Consequently, needs control men and make them the slaves of others. Laws also affect the citizen's freedom, but those who agree to them generally believe that they are a reasonable restraint on their liberty. Once human beings develop and willingly enter into the social contract; restraints are placed on our behavior, which make it possible to live in a community. “In entering into civil society, people sacrifice the physical freedom of being able to do whatever they please, but they gain the civil freedom of being able to think and act rationally and morally”. According to Rousseau real freedom within society is impossible because with the development of reason and need for one another, man become selfish and this caused unequal ness among individuals.

Since Locke proclaims we are self-serving individuals, unanimous consent would be impractical in civil society. This as well as his views on property, wealth, toleration further led to oppression and intolerance within society. “One also has a right to one’s own labor and work. Whatever is un-owned in the state of nature and is worked on by a person becomes the property of that person. Then no one else has a right to it” (Locke, 17). Money is important for trade and selling one’s possessions as they see fit and this subtly expresses who he believes should have power in society. “He says that the civil commonwealth is a society of men constituted only for the procuring, preserving, and advancing of their own civil interests” These interests include the possessions of money, furniture land etc.. “It is the duty of the civil magistrate, by the impartial execution of equal laws, to secure unto the people in general, and to every one of his subjects in particular, the just possession of these things belonging to this life. (website). He also claims that the magistrate had the power to determine kinds of worship and the role of church in government which he later rejects in his essay of “Toleration” saying that church and state should be different entities. In this essay he says that it is important to tolerate differing opinions regarding religion but does not make any assertion towards toleration in general. Since his theory reflects majority rule and Christianity is the prim

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Approximate Word count = 1847
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)


  

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