John Locke’s political views are still present in modern political discourse, such as our current presidential election and specific political issues facing our society.
The citizens of the United States voting for their presidential candidate during the elections expresses Locke’s philosophy of those that are governed should be allowed to choose who they want to represent them and protect their rights. An example of this is the voting polls, the country provides for the citizens to vote in. They are allowed to make a choice and that is exactly what John Locke believes in, those that are governed are allowed to give consent to those they chose.
Equality, life, and property is a major issue in today’s political discourse, Locke believes that these three are the most basic rights and that everyone should have them. A certain example of a political issue in today’s society is police brutality,
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Hillary Clinton advocates religious tolerance as she quotes, “We are a country founded on religious freedom and liberty. How do we do what [Trump] has advocated without causing great distress within our country? Are we going to have religious tests when people fly into our country?”. Hillary Clinton believes that Muslim refugees should be allowed to come to the United States and they shouldn’t be judged based on their religion, this is what John believed in, citizens that are governed should have the right to their own religion and that everyone should be tolerant of each other and their religions. But just because we should does not mean we can be tolerant of each
First and foremost, it is important to discuss Locke’s central theme of life, liberty, and the pursuit of property and how it influenced the Declaration of Independence. The document starts out discussing the state of nature and the natural law. In the hypothetical state of nature, all humans are created equal, are rational beings, and have the freedom to act however they want without the interference of others. The Declaration of Independence starts out by mentioning this natural state. The state of war is enacted with the introduction of private property. Originally, everything found on the earth belongs to everyone. The natural law was anyone had the freedom to use the earth in any way they may need. However, the natural law also states that every being has a right to their body, and its actions. Their actions would be described as the labor they put into the land owned by everyone, as a result the land produced and made better
John Locke liked freedom, he thought that freedom was good for the government. “...(W)e must consider, what state all men are naturally in, and that is, a state of perfect freedom to order their actions, and dispose [manage] of their possessions and persons, as they think fit, within the bounds of the law of nature….” (Doc A) This states that Locke wants freedom but their comes consequences. To have this freedom men needed to create a government with a legislature and an executive. Locke’s main idea was people had rights.
Locke’s thought on having a king, laws, and a civil society under a social contract was so all men can enjoy and protect their rights. Where all men obtain the right to life, all humans have the right to live and life shouldn't be taken away from another human being. The right to liberty, protecting an individual's freedom and unreasonable detention. The right to property, a citizen in which Locke thought a human's labour was his own, anything created or made should remain that individuals as well and the right to rebel against unjust rulers and laws.
John Locke was perhaps one of the most influential political philosophers of the modern period. In the Second Treatise of Government, John Locke discusses the move from a state of nature and perfect freedom to a then governed society in which authority is given to a legislative and executive power. His major ideas included liberalism and capitalism, state of nature, state of war and the desire to protect one’s property.
Locke’s arguments for liberty sound familiar today, but he believed that one must choose between liberty and equality. Locke’s argument that any government which did not admit to the principles of freedom ceased to be legitimate especially appealed.
John Locke was a political theorist and a English Philosopher . His work revolves around the foundation of modern philosophical empiricism and political freedoms.
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
John Locke argued for individual freedom. If we had individual freedom we would have a strong government. Locke said it was necessary to a good government. Locke wrote “People are naturally free and have the right to maintain their freedom.”(Document A) To keep this freedom people needed to construct a government that has both an executive and a legislature. To Locke a government created by the people was the best government in his futuristic sense of
Unlike Hobbes, John Locke honestly believes in the good in man and affirms that they have the ability to maintain a civil society with limited government involvement. He credits man’s want to live in a safe and comfortable environment as the reason why they would come together peacefully, not the aggressive rule of government. Locke also believes that there should be a separation in powers of government in order to properly serve the
We must first determine what is being said in the constitution when they wrote, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Analyzing this we can see that Locke was stating that everyone is equal, and is born with certain "inalienable" natural rights. These rights are given to us by God and can never be taken or even given away by any force,
To understand their views on revolt, and when it is justified, one must first review the responsibilities each believes the government to have. To Locke, the government works to preserve innate rights, that is, rights
John Locke said, “… the people had put into their hands for quite contrary ends, and it devolves to the people, who have a right to resume their
To explain how the rights of an individual should be managed Locke first goes into detail about what an individual’s rights entail. Locke explains that a “man being born… hath by nature a power… to preserve his property – that is his life, liberty, and estate” (Locke). These rights, although
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.
In the wake of political turmoil in England, Locke asserted the right of a people to change a government that did not protect natural rights of life, liberty and property. [8]