John Locke: Excerpts from his Two Treatises of Government



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John Locke and Thomas Hobbes

Directions: Read the excerpts from John Locke’s Two Treatises of Government and the description of Thomas Hobbes and answer the questions that follow each passage. Consider each philosopher’s theories and beliefs about the nature of people and what was the role of government in society based on these natures.

Excerpt 1 from John Locke’s Two Treatises of Government

To understand political power, we must consider the condition in which nature puts all men. It is a state of perfect freedom to do as they wish and dispose of themselves and their possessions as they think fit, within the bounds of the laws of nature. They need not ask permission or the consent of any other man.

The state of nature is also a state of equality. No one has more power or authority than another. Since all human beings have the same advantages and the use of the same skills, they should be equal to each other. The state of nature has a law of nature to govern it. Reason is the law. It teaches that all men are equal and independent, and that no one ought to harm another in his life, liberty, or possessions. All men are made by one all-powerful and wise Maker. They are all servants of one Master who sent them into the world to do His business. He has put men naturally into a state of independence, and they remain in it until they choose to become members of a political society.

What is the “state of nature”? _______________________________________________________________________________________________

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What is the “Law of Nature”? _______________________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________________

How does man live in the State of Nature?

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Excerpt 2 from John Locke’s Two Treatises of Government

If a man in the state of nature is free, if he is absolute lord of his own person and possessions, why will he give up his freedom? Why will he put himself under the control of any person or institution? The obvious answer is that the rights in the state of nature are constantly exposed to the attacks of others. Since every man is equal and since most men do not concern themselves with equity and justice, the enjoyment of rights in the state of nature is unsafe and insecure. Hence each man joins in society with others to preserve life, liberty, and property.

According to Locke, why would man want to join others and enter a society when he is his own master over his property and possessions?

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According to Locke, what are the fundamental natural rights all men are entitled to?

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Excerpt 3 from John Locke’s Two Treatises of Government

Since men hope to preserve their property by establishing a government, they will not want that government to destroy this objective. When legislators (lawmakers) try to destroy or take away the property of the people, or try to reduce them to slavery, they put themselves into a state of war with the people who can then refuse to obey the laws. When legislators try to gain or give someone else absolute power over lives, liberties, and property of the people, they abuse the power which the people had put into their hands. It is then the privilege of the people to establish a new legislature to provide for their safety and security. These principles also hold true for the executive who helps to make laws and carry them out.

What does Locke say man has the right to do when the government tries to pass unfair laws or tries to destroy or take away the property of the people?

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Thomas Hobbes and the State of Nature

Hobbes develops his account of the state of nature from the claim that human beings are naturally equal. By this he means that each individual possesses the natural right to preserve himself, and furthermore the natural right to claim all things, or seek all power, that he judges necessary to this end. Moreover, Hobbes writes, in the state of nature we are, for practical purposes, equal in physical and mental capacity, since no one is strong or smart enough to defend himself with certainty against the threats that arise from the efforts of other individuals to preserve themselves.

According to Hobbes, this rough equality of ability leads each person to have an equal hope of acquiring good things for himself. As individuals strive to accumulate goods, they compete with each other, and consequently create an atmosphere of distrust. The attempt to acquire things, and to preserve them from the encroachments of others, causes us to try to dominate and control those around us. Furthermore, Hobbes observes, some people care particularly to be known as that sort who can dominate—they are vainglorious or prideful individuals who are unhappy if they are not recognized as superior.

These three things—competition, distrust, and the desire for glory—throw humankind into a state of war, which is for Hobbes the natural condition of human life, the situation that exists whenever natural passions are unrestrained. This state of war should be distinguished from wars as we usually experience them, for in the natural state of war every individual faces every other individual as an enemy; it is the “war of every man against every man.” The total absence of collaboration makes us miserable, and renders life “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.”

Hobbes argues that individuals require a “visible power to keep them in awe,” to remind them of the purpose of the social contract and to force them, for fear of punishment, to keep their promises. This power must also be sufficient to keep in check the yearning for superiority of those who desire honor or glory. Hobbes calls the power necessary to transform the desire for a social contract into a commonwealth the sovereign, the Leviathan, or the “king of the proud.”

How does Thomas Hobbes view the nature of people? How is this a less positive view than John Locke?

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According to Hobbes, what do people need because of their nature?

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|John Locke |Thomas Paine |

|The period known as the “Enlightenment” in Europe during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries saw the | |

|development of new ideas about the rights of people and their relationship to their rulers. John Locke was an |Thomas Paine was an English immigrant to |

|Enlightenment philosopher whose ideas, more than any others, influenced the American belief in self-government. |America who produced a pamphlet known as |

|Locke published the document Two Treatises in Government in1690 in England. He was trying to justify the |Common Sense in 1776 that challenged the |

|Glorious Revolution and England’s Government. Locke wrote the following: |rule of the American colonies by the King |

|All people are free, equal, and have “natural rights” of life, liberty, and property that rulers cannot take |of England. Common Sense was read and |

|away. |acclaimed by many American colonists during|

|All original power resides in the people, and they consent to enter into a “social contract” among themselves to|the mid-1700s. The plain language that |

|form a government to protect their rights. In return, the people promise to obey the laws and rules established |Paine used spoke to the common people of |

|by their government, establishing a system of “ordered liberty.” |America and was the first work to openly |

|Government’s powers are limited to those the people have consented to give to it. Whenever government becomes a |ask for independence from Great Britain. |

|threat to the people’s natural rights, it breaks the social contract, and the people have the right to alter or |It contributed to a growing sentiment and |

|overthrow it. |support for independence from Great |

|Locke’s ideas about the sovereignty and rights of the people were radical and challenged the centuries-old |Britain. |

|practice throughout the world of dictatorial rule by kings, emperors, and tribal chieftains. His work later | |

|supplied the philosophical support for revolutions in both the American colonies and in France. | |

|Thomas Jefferson |

|The eventual draft of the Declaration of Independence, authored by Thomas | |

|Jefferson of Virginia in 1776, reflected the ideas of Locke and Paine. |The key principles of the Declaration of Independence increased political, |

|Jefferson wrote: |social, and economic participation in the American experience over a period |

|“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that |of time. |

|they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among |Political participation (equality) |

|these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. |Extending the franchise |

|“That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving |Upholding due process of law |

|their just powers from the consent of the governed. |Providing free public education |

|“That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is |Social participation (liberty) |

|the Right of the People to alter or abolish it, and to institute new |Abolishing slavery |

|Government….” |Extending civil rights to women and other groups |

|Jefferson then went on to detail many of the grievances against the King of |Economic participation (pursuit of happiness) |

|England that Paine had earlier described in Common Sense. |Regulating the free enterprise system |

| |Promoting economic opportunity |

| |Protecting property rights |

Political Ideas that Influenced the American Revolution

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