Locke's Second Treatise

The State of Nature vs. The State of War

John Locke's Second Treatise of Government explains God's desires for man to such a personal degree, one must first get past this obvious limitation in order to view the document as serious philosophy. For one who believes in religious tolerance because "we cannot know perfectly the truth about all differences of religious opinion," Locke seems to have a direct line of communication with the Almighty (Locke: Government 2). Nonetheless, the philosophical tract argues that there is a distinct difference between the State of Nature and the State of War. Locke contends that the state of nature and the state of war "are as far distant as a state of peace, goodwill, mutual assistance, and preservation; and a state of enmity, malice, violence and mutual destruction are one from another" (Locke 5). In the state of nature Locke contends that man is without a common superior who acts as a common judge. However, even though this situation places all men in the state of nature the state of war is the use of force upon others where there may be or may not be a common judge. It is only social law that grants the right to use force upon others because that force will be judged by those invested with power by all men, but a man's individual actions used against others can only be judged in the natural state by God.

Many argue that Locke's view of human nature and mankind in the state of nature is positive, certainly more so th

Related Essays

Locke's Influence on the Declaration of Independence .... The Second Treatise of Government. By John Locke. Ed. .... vii-xxii. Squadrito, Kathleen M. John Locke. .... Wood, Gordon S. The Radicalism of the American Revolution. .... (2297 9 )

John Locke and Thomas Hobbes .... Freeport, New York: Books for Libraries. Locke, John. (1956). The second treatise of government. Oxford: Basil Blackwell. Peters, Richard S. (1962). .... (1671 7 )

Locke & Hobbes on Political Science .... Locke, John. The Second Treatise of Government. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1956. Peters, Richard S. Body, Man, and Citizen. New York: Collier Books, 1962. (1641 7 )

Natural Law and Ethics .... The point s that human thought and behavior reason themselves, as far as .... that Aquinas presents is also taken up by Locke in his Second Treatise of Government .... (2247 9 )

Enlightenment Theory & The Communist Manifesto .... can also be compared to Locke's Second Treatise of Government .... the people--although of course Locke (18ff) connects .... reformism and which "endeavour[s], and that .... (1804 7 )

Condition of Women in European Society .... the 17th century, three years after not before Locke's Second Treatise of Government .... [S]exual relations before, throughout, and after [the Enlightenment] were .... (1804 7 )

. Where Locke's views on property are concerned we also see inherent contradictions in his explanations. In the state of nature he believes all men freely enjoy the rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of property. However, he believes that without governments this is possible in the state of nature because men have no practical need to hoard or acquire more than they can use for their own person. In other words, a man who labors gains a natural vestment in the land or fields he works. If he tries to acquire more than he can use, it will spoil or be useless to him since he is hard pressed to make practical use of any excess. If he does build up an excess then it is lawful in the state of nature for him to come under the criticism and scrutiny of others who may feel justified in punishing for such actions. An example would be the Native American Indians who often warred with fellow tribes only when those tribes tried to take more water or more wildlife than they were entitled to, or from some tribe that only had what they need for survival. This worked well during a system that was not based on capital. However, once governments were enacted men commonly agreed to place value on things that were not perishable or nece

Category: Literature - L