1632-1704 Treatise on Government John Locke 1632-1704 Treatise on Government

Civil Government I. Locke had his own view of man’s “state of Nature” Man in his natural state is a good and moral being. Not a state of license, pre-political, not pre-moral A state of equality, persons bound by the law of nature

D. Law of nature is given to us by God i. we cannot harm each other in regards to life, health, liberty, or possessions. ii. If we all belong to God, and we ought not to take from what is his, we ought not to harm one-another. E. Devolving State: The state of nature can devolve into a state of war and property disputes.

Political power -A right to make laws—with... penalties—for regulating and preserving property, and to employ the force of the community in enforcing such laws and defending the commonwealth from external attack; all this being only for the public good.

Origin of Authority Not given to Adam by God, Not traceable from Adam's successors, We must find another account of the beginnings of government.

Man's natural State To understand political power correctly... we must consider what state all men are naturally in. -free to order their actions and dispose of their possessions and themselves, in any way they like, without asking anyone’s permission -subject only to limits set by the law of nature.

It is also a state of equality -no-one has more power and authority than anyone else. - it is simply obvious that creatures of the same species and status... should also be equal in other ways, with no-one being subjected to or subordinate to anyone else.

"He isn’t at liberty to destroy himself, or even to destroy any created thing in his posses- sion unless something nobler than its mere preservation is at stake." "no-one ought to harm anyone else in his life, health, liberty, or possessions."

Origin of enforcement "The enforcement of that law of nature (in the state of nature) is in every man’s hands, so that everyone has a right to punish law-breakers as severely as is needed to hinder the violation of the law." "[The offender] has disregarded and broken the tie that is meant to secure [humanity] from injury and violence."

If it is within anyone's right to punish an offender, it is within everyone's right to do so. We give up some amount of our rights to the government so that they can protect our rights from others.

Commonwealth When a number of men are united into one society in such a way that each of them forgoes his executive power of the law of nature, giving it over to the public.

http://www.iep.utm.edu/soc-cont/ http://faculty.ucc.edu/egh-damerow/the_enlightenment.htm