How Did John Locke's View Of Government

I am John Locke. I heard that you're going to have a meeting with the statesman. So, I decided to give you my ideas about the government that would inspire you. As you know it's really important to give citizens their natural rights (life, liberty, and property). Because I believed that everyone was born free, equal, and independent. And the meaning of my natural rights are life: everyone is entitled to live. Liberty: everyone is entitled to do anything they want to so long as it doesn't conflict with the first right. Property: everyone is entitled to own all they create or gain through gift or trade so long as it doesn't conflict with the first two rights. Another thing if the government agrees to give citizens their natural rights. I've

Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) was an English philosopher who is best known for his work in political ethics. Hobbes had a pessimistic view of the human race, however his theory has been used as a major influence on western political views. In 1651, Thomas Hobbes wrote Leviathan, in which he states that life before government was violent, brutal, and barbaric. Hobbes continues on to argue that civil peace and social unity are best achieved by the establishment of a commonwealth through social contract. Leviathan consisted of four books: 1.) Of Man, 2.) Of Commonwealth, 3.) Of a Christian Commonwealth, and 4.) Of the Kingdom of Darkness. The first book contains the philosophical context, while the second book outlines the rights of the citizens within the commonwealth. The third book argues against certain scriptures, and whether or not a person can claim supernatural

While reading the “The Second Treatise of Government,” you can notice and see that John Locke has a strong standing for civil rights as well as helping with the development of the Constitution of the United States. He states that the “consent of the governed,” is basically saying that communities are not put together by the divine right or ruled by. Paternal, familial, and political are types of powers that John Locke mentions that have all have unlike characteristics. He inspired others to believe in and want equal rights and democracy. John Locke talks about the state of nature, which basically states that no one has the power to be ruler of someone, as well as they are able to do what they want in a freely matter. In other words people are born just like anyone else that is born, and should have equally rights to property, health, and liberty, and that no one should have the power over anyone. Everyone should be able to live and enjoy his or her own freedom and wellbeing. However, the state of nature is not a guarantee to have natural laws, which could help with the protecting of one’s property. According to him having your own personal freedom was the true meaning of state of nature. John Locke thought that people were following his faith in human rationality through the declaration of Locke. John Locke states that if the government takes away from others for them to empower them then the people have right and opportunity to go against

He was a scholar, which led him to become a tutor for a powerful family, which allowed him access to parliament and other structures of power and government. His experience influenced his work on many books, including his most famous, Leviathan. This particular novel was published in 1651 and outlines the basics of social contract theory and political theories. Leviathan explained the premise that people are selfish and competitive. He believes that by taking away the individual power of each person that it can create a commonwealth that has everyone on the same playing field if this does not happen then it can cause a condition called war, every man against every man (Hobbes, T, Gaskin, J. C. 2008, 84). This early modern philosopher believed in censoring and self-censorship. In Leviathan, part 6 he discusses that the purpose of the sovereign is the right to preserve peace and security of the commonwealth (Hobbes, T., & Gaskin, J. C. 2008). They were to do this by whatever means necessary, restricting certain speech, books, and topics from the commonwealth that were not helping the goal of the sovereign. Censoring certain speech and topics helps to stabilize the environment within the society. Hobbes also practice self- censorship which is when someone refrains from speaking due to hurting others, or themselves. Hobbes would agree with the student’s decision to ask professors to disclose when they were introducing a topic that could offend certain people. Hobbes would only do this, however, if this would help preserve peace on campus and help protect the commonwealth. Hobbes would also ask the professors to self-censor themselves in front of the student and take more responsibility for inflicting “harm” onto the students. In Leviathan Hobbes mentions that a sovereign power should be permitted within the society and that subjects should “submit their wills” to the sovereign powers (Hobbes, T., & Gaskin, J. C. 2008,

When thinking about the role of government in society, everyone has different opinions on what part government should play in their lives. In Locke’s, Second Treatise on Civil Government, the governments primary role is to ensure that people achieve equal natural rights and that they protect the property of its citizens. When beginning to think about that idea, it seems relatively simple and a proper position for the government, and it is, but one must dive deeper into the text and develop ones’ own opinions. Locke’s argument that government should protect natural rights and property is a valid argument with its core components; and the arguments that you are able to point out in it such as using property in a beneficial, and humans being fond of material possessions, helps one understand Locke’s argument and makes it stronger. Being able to relate Locke’s aim of government to present day also enhances the overall scope of this particular Lockean argument.

John Locke was born in 1632 at Wrinton in Somerset, England. He opposed the views of Thomas Hobbes and thought that people were born neither good nor evil. He believed that people's characters were solely based on their experiences and their environment. He also believed that people could learn from their experiences and change their characters for the better. He believed that people had three Natural Rights- life, liberty, and property. In Locke's eyes, the purpose of the government was to protect the people's Natural Rights. He thought that if the government was not doing this job, that the people had the right to overthrow it. Although it may seem that Locke would support a democracy, he was not a democrat. He believed that laborers were of a lower status that the middle and upper classes and had no place meddling in the affairs of the government. He believed that the poor had neither the education nor the inclination to make political decisions responsibly. This was a popular belief of the time. Many of Locke’s political ideas, such as those relating to natural rights, property rights, the duty of the government to protect these rights, and the rule of the majority, were later embodied in the United States

Even though the American colonists are their own entity, the British government still assumed control over the colonies. Situations such as the belief that the Parliament “had the right to impose taxes on the colonists” increased the distaste of the colonies to the British (Boundless). Though the Parliament had virtual representation, or “the members of Parliament spoke for the interests of all British subjects rather than for the interests of only the district that elected them” over the colonies, the colonies argued that since there is no direct representation, or “proposed form of representative democracy where each representative’s vote is weighted in proportion to the number of citizens who have chosen that candidate to represent them”

John Locke was an incredibly encouraging figure in the development of the ideals and methods of political functioning in the United States of America. John Locke applied many of his studies to write one of his most famous and moving works. “The Second Treatises of Government” is the document which ultimately struck the United States in their creation of the Declaration of Independence. In Locke’s work he had focused on the idea that governments shouldn’t be dictated by anyone person, but ultimately should be a united entity in which everyone in the country has a say in what is happening. For example, John Locke believed that the government should be in charge of deciding who should be the leading figure of power and protecting their citizens’ “Life, Liberty, and Property”. He also believed that if the government failed to fulfill their duties of protecting their people and establishing a limit of power for the leading figure of the country, it was the responsibility of the citizens to “overthrow the government.” John Locke kept a similar mindset to that of Hobbes when it comes to the government and its power. Locke’s work and ideas would go on to be highly influential upon Thomas Jefferson during the process of writing the draft of the Declaration of Independence. In this document Jefferson kept very close ties to Locke’s ideas to create what he believed would be the ideal government.

John Locke’s political philosophy has had a lasting impact on multiple influencers throughout history. With praises from the likes of Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and countless others, Locke’s radical views on government have inspired many of the ideals of the American Revolution that we hear about today. “His influence in the history of thought, on the way we think about ourselves and our relation to the world we live in, to God, nature and society, has been immense” (Uzgalis). It’s safe to say that without Locke’s writings we wouldn’t have many of the political ideologies on natural and human rights that we hold so dear. Ironically, his complete body of work known as The Two Treatises of Government was published anonymously, and John Locke only acknowledged ownership in his will.

What is American Citizenship? Some people would argue that our idea of citizenship is what separates our country from the rest and makes us better than any country before. The first ten amendments of The Constitution, also known as the bill of rights, lays out basic rights for the citizens of America. This includes the freedom of speech, and the right to a fair and speedy trial. However, these rights also come with some responsibilities. Some are voluntary like participating in the democratic process and some are mandatory like obeying federal, state, and local laws (Remy, 2006, p. 391). Whether mandatory or not, all the responsibilities of American citizens are necessary to create the working democratic process that is seen today. American

Democracy was not created in a day. Instead it was made after years of monarchy where any democratic ideas were unthinkable. Luckily, for us in the seventeenth century a man by the name of John Locke reevaluated many ideas from Ancient Greek and Rome and created a stable foundation for many of our government ideas. This document was named Two Treatises of Government and though he got backlash from many people it was the structure used to create two very important documents. These two documents were The Declaration of Independence written by Thomas Jefferson and A Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen recorded by the National Assembly of France.

In Locke’s first Treatises of Government he discussed how Divine Rights of Kings are not by God’s will. Unlike Filmer Locke believes that people are leaders and Kings due to the

“I can’t breathe!” cries 43-year-old Eric Garner eleven times as Staten Island police officer Daniel Pantaleo illegally chokeholds him to the ground on July 17, 2014. As a result of this violent police encounter, Eric Garner, when approached by officer Pantaleo nonviolently resisted to being detained or frisked for selling loose cigarettes, lost his life despite his desperate pleas for air. This entire ordeal, as captured on cellphone video by a nearby bystander, offered the nation a firsthand look into the inner workings of contemporary— albeit, problematic— policing strategies, theories of punishment and police resistance, as well as a citizens struggle for self-preservation. However, before examining this, it is crucial to grasp the social contract theory as presented by John Locke throughout Second Treatise of Government.

John Locke’s belief that all humans were born equal and had the right to life, liberty, and property influenced the basis of The United States and France’s government. John Locke felt that the government’s power came from the people; this provided a foundation for democracy and the U.S Constitution. France fought for enlightened principles like liberty, democracy, and equality after they saw that America was successful in their revolt against their absolute monarch. John Locke along with other enlightened philosophes principles were incorporated into their government.

Thomas Hobbes was born on April fifth,1588 in Wiltshire, England. With his education, he began his career easily as a tutor, then philosopher, and published his most famous text 'Leviathan'. His main concern was the problem of social and political order: how human beings can live together in peace and avoid the danger and fear of civil conflict. The criteria for his social contract is that individuals should give their obedience to an "unaccountable sovereign": a person or