Of his most famous writings, Locke’s Two Treatises of Civil Government gives us a theory of natural law and natural rights which he used to distinguish between legitimate and illegitimate civil governments, and to argue for the legitimacy of revolt against tyrannical governments. Locke equated "the law of nature" with "the rule of morals." He wrote of a God who "show[ed] Himself to us as present everywhere, exhibiting Himself to the eyes of men… in the regular course of nature." His equation underscored his belief that "man alone" could not hav

Of his major concerns, Locke reasoned that men in their natural condition were "free, equal, and independent." It was not a matter of their thinking themselves independent, for property was a physical relationship to external nature, and it was within the limits provided by this physical relationship that each individual could equally find room or space to exercise his freedom independently of other men. By being masters of themselves and proprietors of their own actions and labor, men had in themselves a great foundation of property and independence. "Every man has property of his own person," Locke reasoned. "This nobody has any right to but himself. The labour of his body and the work of his hands are properly his. Whatsoever then he removes out of the State that Nature hath provided and left it in mixed his labour with, and joined to do it something that is his own, and thereby makes it his property." At the level of subject matter, civil societies consisted of individuals who acquired by their physical actions something as their own, which was distant and separate from what other individuals had.

e "come into the world subject to no regulation, without a purpose, without a law, without a model for his life."

One general lesson we have learned from our three approaches is that when we theorize about the role of a civil society, the application of scientific method to ourselves is not as straightforward as enthusiasts like Marx would suggest. For one thing, there is the matter of ideology. Every human way of life presupposes some beliefs about society and what makes it civil, and when a belief is thus involved in their thought and action, people will typically resist changing it. But proponents of change will often appeal to their own claims about the role of civil society. This is a topic which breaks the boundaries between the sciences and what has been called "politics." Our social and political problems worldwide cry out for a better understanding of what makes a society civil, and what role it must fashion.

The idea of a decentralized society in which men cooperate in communities for the common good, the application of science and technology to produce enough for all, the shortening of the working day so that men could increasingly choose to spend their leisure time in the free development of their potential, the idea of a society in balance with nature — all these are ideals which almost anyone of any generation would share, even though it is not clear if they are really compatible. Marx offered this kind of hopeful vision of the future that it could still win and retain the allegiance of so many individuals.

The Marxist can similarly say that those who engage in selfless, active participation in society also enjoyed the fruits of civility. While Locke and Tocqueville may contend that the will of men parallels the will of God, Marx asserts that those who do not recognize the "truth" a

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