(855) 4-ESSAYS

Type a new keyword(s) and press Enter to search

John Locke


             In the Second Treatise of Government Locke includes ideas that were common in the seventeenth and eighteenth century political philosophy, natural rights theory, and social contract. When Locke explains how government comes into being formed, he uses the idea that people agree that their condition in the state of nature is unsatisfactory, and agrees to transfer some of their rights to a central government, while retaining others. People then exchange some of their natural rights to enter into society with other people, and be protected by common laws and a common executive power to enforce the laws. People need executive power to protect their property and defend their liberty. .
             2. Locke wrote and developed the philosophy that there was no legitimate government under the divine right of kings" theory. The theory argued that certain kings ruled because they were chosen by God to do so and that these kings were accountable to no person except God. When you criticized the ruler, you were in effect challenging God. However, Locke did not believe in that and wrote his theory to challenge it. The constitution was the idea that the power to govern was obtained from the permission of the people. He thought that the purpose of government was to protect the natural rights of its citizens. He said that natural rights were life, liberty and property, and that all people automatically earned these simply by being born. .
             3. John Locke believed that men at first lived in a state of anarchy in which there was no society and no government. The state was formed by social contract because in the state of nature each was their own judge, and there was no protection against those who lived outside the law of nature. The social contract also keeps people from being totally alienated and affords them better protection. If a large group of people enter a social contract, they can more easily defend themselves against their enemies, and criminals who live in societies with no social contract.


Essays Related to John Locke


Got a writing question? Ask our professional writer!
Submit My Question