John Locke Natural Rights Essay

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

When there are no laws, there are no freedoms, hence, the Patriots and the Loyalists have to join together in order for the colonies to be prosperous. I, Thomas Tredwell, live in Smithtown, Suffolk County, Long Island. I was raised on a farm, but attended Princeton to study law. As a farmer and a lawyer, I understand both the Patriots’ and the Loyalists’ opinions. My fellow farmers are in debt and are struggling to make an income. The courts are closed in Manhattan, which is creating disarray. For the sake of a better state, the courts and ports should be open. I am very passionate about John Locke’s laws stated in the Second Treatise of Government and I value others opinions greatly. I agree with the Patriots’ and Loyalists’ opinions and deem Locke’s principles about liberty and order important for a society.

He proclaims that all men are born of the same state, but God gives privileges to certain individuals. These privileges are what rank one race, religion, culture, and gender over another. However, Locke believes respect should be given to every other man’s lives, health, liberty, and possessions (68, Ward). In Locke’s state of nature there is no government, but rather every man implements punishment accordingly to the crime committed (eg. Murder is solved by killing the murder). On the contrary, Locke’s state of nature lacked laws for men to abide by, judges to mandate disputes, and the power to execute a law or enforce a sentence within

John Locke, view on natural laws and the human nature was quite simple his philosophy states that all humans must simple live by the natural law. His approach was based on ethics and not obligation, it is an individual’s right to preserve themselves to reach his own good, and as well have the opportunity as they wish. Locke believed that the humans was happy for the most part that there is peace in the heart

John Locke’s social construct, which is inherently based on the The Law of Nature, bestowed by God, assuring humans with the right of health, liberty and property, is undoubtedly flawed to some extent in which specific aspects of such can be exploited to justify wrongful doings. Given that Locke forms that the human state of nature is one of relative peace, in which each person is inherently moral trough universal religious affiliation, and whom follow their bidding without interference, in regard to the rights bound by the law of nature, and the constant tendency for humans to develop disputes amongst these natural rights, specifically that of property, the attraction of swaying away from a state of nature is in part to maintain one’s property safe and equal. This is an important factor in Locke’s theory as it is what disputes the choice of staying in a peaceful state of nature in the menace of possible war and danger.

Next, under Locke’s state of nature, he also places a heavy emphasis on extensive rights, including property rights. He believed that self-determination implied private property rights and that human life without property is not free. In refutation to this

Locke feels that this system of government is lacking in that the ruler has all control, and may not be stopped in abuses of power, which Locke fears. Humans beings decide to form a society out of the state of nature because there must be unity among men in order to protect one another, and so that they may punish offenders of the justice. Men do this under the rule of an indivdual who is selected by the people, and to whom the people give up some of their personal rights.Though humans give up certain rights to the chosen authoriy, they are entitled to certain rights reserved to them alone, which they hold within the society. All members of the society should be equal under the law of justice, and that no man is better than another, since all men are created equal, and all are equal before the laws of nature. The law of nature states that people attain property through the labour they do.The ruler or authority over a society should be an indivdual

The amount produced by any man should be kept in check by his level of

Locke’s main discussions of freedom took place in his work entitled Two Treatises on Government. These views were built upon the view of a natural state in which every individual maintained a state of natural freedom. In this natural state, each individual was free to make decisions and choose actions without any constraints. Locke felt that under this view every individual should maintain equal and independent and refrain from harming one another. However, the main problem in this concept of freedom is that fact that an individual’s free will can be constrained by the actions of another.

Locke regarded humans naturally in “a state of perfect freedom to order their actions” (Locke Two treatises ex.4). Along with this comes unbounded indulgence of the benefits of law of nature whereby men “has by nature a power, not only to preserve his property, that is, his life, liberty and estate, against the injuries and attempts of other men; but to judge of, and punish the breaches of that law in others” (Locke Two treatises ex.87). In addition, “it was not good for him to be alone, put him under strong obligations of necessity, convenience, and inclination to drive him into society” (Locke Two treatises ex.77). Locke views that the formation of government “derive[d] from God’s will” (Dunn 2003, p. 37) and originated from men’s need to protect their property as a collective, where a common

This is due to the fact that man is formed by God, thus man is sacred. Anyone who transgresses this law must be judged and punished by all other men as every man has this right. This punishment must be suitable to the transgression. Though Locke also states that any transgression may be punishable by death, even minor infringements. Furthermore, Locke’s view of the state of nature revolves around property. Not only are men equal in terms of strength and authority, but also have equal access to everything on this Earth. This is because Locke views that God has given the Earth to man in order to preserve himself. Thus man puts labour into the land. Through labour, man may own the property as long as it satisfies his needs, does not go to waste and there is enough for all. Consent is not necessary either – Locke believes this would hinder some people, leading them to die of starvation. Locke also points out that not everyone may follow the law of nature, thus in this state of nature, man is still unable to fully enjoy the bounty God has give to them. The Lockean view of the state of nature appears to be more persuasive than the other two theorist discussed as it does not fall into the trap of over simplifying human beings. It also gives into account those who may break the natural law -

Locke’s idea of the state of nature men had kept their promises and honoured their obligations. In locke’s first treatise he argued that there was no divine right for monarchs, because God didn't put men above others and therefore everyone was equal. In his second treatise he strikes Hobbes and speaks his thought on the state of nature “man is free and in this condition all men equal”. For Locke, in the state of nature all men are free to order their actions, of their possessions and persons, as they think fit, within the of the law of nature. This idea influenced him to believe that human nature is represented by reason and tolerance the reasoning was "The state of Nature has a law of Nature to govern it", and that law is the reason. Much different than Hobbes, who had believed people were selfish and needed to be

Besides the right to self-preservation, Locke also believed that all individuals had a natural right to property, “the labour of his body, and the work of his hands, we may say, are property his,” (pg. 128, 27). This natural right carried with it two preconditions of natural law. First, since God gave the earth to all individuals, people must be sure to leave enough property for others to have, the second

The state of nature must abide by three important principles: no government, complete freedom, and perfect equality. While the guarantee of these three truths may be bumpier than they sound, a state of nature is when all of these should theoretically exist. First, the government would be absolutely absent, as it is “what state all men are naturally in” (Chapter 2, Section 4). Locke is clear about the need for this as a beginning. We do not begin with a premade government, we begin with the state of nature. This

John Locke linked human behavior with our nature. He argued in his works that men are governed and guided by the rules within our nature. “The state of Nature has a law of Nature to govern it, which obliges every one, 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.” (2nd Treatise.6) Even without any manmade laws that specifically guide us what and how to do a certain thing, we are programmed to follow basic rules mutually understood by every human on Earth. Locke brought up that these rules discourage, in fundamental, people from gaining power by depriving that of others. He noticed, by specifically employing the word mankind, that the ability to accept and live by this rudimentary rule is the ultimate characteristic that makes us who we are. It is the ability to respect other’s