John Locke's Second Treatise of Civil Government PDF

John Locke Second Treatise of Civil Government John Locke (1632-1704) Empiricist Evidentialist Christian Defended tolerance of different Christian denominations Called for the separation of church and state We must reason about human nature to find the truth Thought we could use reason...

John Locke Second Treatise of Civil Government John Locke (1632-1704) Empiricist Evidentialist Christian Defended tolerance of different Christian denominations Called for the separation of church and state We must reason about human nature to find the truth Thought we could use reason alone to recognize the divine plan that God has for us The Second Treatise of Government What is the legitimate role of government? Consider what life is like with no government, just like Hobbes Like Hobbes, Locke thinks there is a state of nature in America Unlike Hobbes, Locke argues there is a moral standard in the state of nature, prior to human agreement, prior to the social contract It comes from God We Are God’s Property “…by his order and about his business, they are his property whose workmanship they are, made to last during his, not one another’s pleasure: and being furnished with like faculties, sharing all in one community of nature, there cannot be supposed any subordination among us, that may authorize us to destroy one another, as if we were made for one another’s uses, as the inferior ranks of creatures are for our’s.” God is the craftsmen of humans He made us all to last as long as he wishes and made us the same The State of Nature and Survival God’s ownership of us and our duties to God are present in the state of nature God wants us to survive until he doesn’t, so we are entitled to what we need to survive Suicide is wrong because it goes against God’s purposes Thomas Aquinas talked about basic goods John Locke will talk about basic rights or natural rights Rights theory Natural Rights Natural rights exist in the state of nature They are not societal rights, that may be created by human beings, such as the right to a fair trial, right to vote, etc. Our natural rights: Life, liberty, health, and property “The state of nature has a law of nature to govern it, which obliges everyone: and reason which is that law, teaches all mankind who will but consult it, that being all equal and independent, no one ought to harm another in his life, health, liberty or possessions.” Basically the Golden Rule We see that this law of nature is revealed by reason We reflect on what is best for ourself and others and can see this Exit From the State of Nature Unlike for Hobbes, the state of nature is not an amoral situation But there are no authorities to judge crimes or punish rights violations Vigilante justice, angry mobs So we set up a society to have unbiased judges and have punishments enforced This is how we can protect our rights to life, liberty, health, and property The Point of Government “…men when they enter into society give up the equality, liberty, and executive power they had in the state of Nature into the hands of the society, to be so far disposed of by the legislative as the good of the society shall require, yet it being only with an intention in every one the better to preserve himself, his liberty and property (for no rational creature can be supposed to change his condition with an intention to be worse), the power of the society or legislative constituted by them can never be supposed to extend farther than the common against those three defects above mentioned that made the state of Nature so unsafe and uneasy. And so, whoever has the legislative or supreme power of any commonwealth, is bound to govern by established standing laws, promulgated and known to the people, and not by extemporary decrees, by indifferent and upright judges, who are to decide controversies by those laws; and to employ the force of the community at home only in the execution of such laws, or abroad to prevent or redress foreign injuries and secure the community from inroads and invasion. And all this to be directed to no other end but the peace, safety, and public good of the people” Government is for the People Government is for the public good to protect the natural rights A government should not exist just to promote the interests of the prince or king (Against Machiavelli in The Prince) It is not that the ruler gets to do whatever he or she pleases because it is ordained by God (Robert Filmer, Patriarcha) Locke called Filmer’s writings nonsense Filmer: The state is a family, the first king is a father, and we must all obey the king absolutely like children Adam was the first king, and then the English king Charles I rules England as Adam’s heir Locke: This is ridiculous Parliamentary Governments Locke defends a parliamentary government His family had been on the puritan side in the English Civil War, defending parliament Majority rule Separation of legislative and executive powers When Revolutions Are Justified “The constitution of the legislative [authority] is the first and fundamental act of society, whereby provision is made for the continuation of their union under the direction of persons and bonds of laws, made by persons authorized thereunto, by the consent and appointment of the people, without which no one man, or number of men, amongst them can have authority of making laws that shall be binding to the rest. When any one, or more, shall take upon them to make laws whom the people have not appointed so to do, they make laws without authority, which the people are not therefore bound to obey; by which means they come again to be out of subjection, and may constitute to themselves a new legislative, as they think best, being in full liberty to resist the force of those who, without authority, would impose anything upon them....” Revolution If a ruler uses force in a way that violates the natural rights of the people, then he brings us back to the state of nature and a state of war How do we know when the people legitimately are being harmed and have a legitimate cause for revolution? The people are the judge, because they know what is best for them Just like servants know best if they are mistreated Locke’s thought is commonly believed to have influenced the American revolution Locke and the Virginia Colony Locke was an investor in the colony of Virginia and wrote up plans for its governance The Virginia colony was based on slavery Scholars have debated how this can be Either, Locke is terribly hypocritical and there is just a glaring contradiction between his claims that every human as rights to life, liberty, health, and property Or, somehow Locke meant to the theory only to apply to English government But he speaks universally of human rights And he says the only just form of slavery is if one is defeated in a just war Locke scholar Roger Woolhouse: “Though there is no consensus on the whole question, there certainly seems to be ‘a glaring contradiction between his theories and Afro-American slavery.’” Discussion Do we have natural rights, rights in the state of nature? If so, what are they? Where do they come from? Are we God’s property? Is there Biblical support for this idea? Are owners in general entitled to set purposes for and do whatever they wish with their own property? Is suicide immoral because one is destroying what God owns? When, if ever, is revolution justified? Was the American revolution justified? Were the French revolution and the Russian revolution justified?