The way the content is organized and presented is seamlessly smooth, innovative, and comprehensive. LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Second Treatise of Government , which you can use to track the themes throughout the work. In order to understand political power, Locke claims one must understand the state of nature. Active Themes. Nature, War, and Civil Society. Humankind is obligated to preserve themselves and others and respect their life, freedom, and possessions.
Locke returns to the law of nature again and again throughout his work, and he claims that one is always obligated to obey this law, even in civil society. Locke also uses the law of nature to refute the idea of absolute monarchies—since no one has absolute power over their own life, that power cannot be given to another. Related Quotes with Explanations. There is no governing body in a state of nature to execute laws, and since humankind exists in nature in a perfect state of equality, everyone has an equal right to punish those who wrong them.
It is only in restraint and reparation that one may do harm to another lawfully. The idea of punishment may be difficult for some, Locke supposes, but it is the same idea behind a prince or magistrate putting a foreigner to death. English law has no jurisdiction over an Indian, for example, but when English law punishes such a foreigner, they do so under the law of nature.
Locke claims everyone is born into a state of nature, which also implies that everyone is born perfectly equal. In nature , one may kill a murderer, both to protect future victims and deter other criminals. Locke admits that humankind is prone to partiality and violence and will likely go too far in punishing offenders, which inevitably leads to confusion and disorder.
It is government, Locke says, which restrains the violence of humankind. The First Treatise attacks patriarchalism in the form of sentence-by-sentence refutation of Robert Filmer 's Patriarcha , while the Second Treatise outlines Locke's ideas for a more civilized society based on natural rights and contract theory.
This publication contrasts former political works by Locke himself. In Two Tracts on Government , written in , Locke defends a very conservative position; however, Locke never published it.
In this context, Locke was only a paid secretary, writing it much as a lawyer writes a will. He ruled jointly with Mary II , as Protestants. This is now known as the Glorious Revolution , also called the Revolution of. Two Treatises of Government , major statement of the political philosophy of the English philosopher John Locke , published in but substantially composed some years before then.
The work may be considered a response to the political situation as it existed in England at the time of the exclusion controversy—the debate over whether a law could be passed to forbid exclude the succession of James, the Roman Catholic brother of King Charles II reigned —85 , to the English throne—though its message was of much more lasting significance.
Locke strongly supported exclusion. In the preface to the work, composed at a later date, he makes clear that the arguments of the two treatises are continuous and that the whole constitutes a justification of the Glorious Revolution , which deposed James who reigned, as James II , from to and brought the Protestant William III and Mary II to the throne.
Other specific moral laws can be discovered or known only through revelation. The edition text is free of copyright. Page 2. Locke's Second Treatise on Civil Government The first treatise is a refutation of the theory of the divine right of kings, and the second is a philosophical treatment of the origins and limits of political authority.
This is now known as the Glorious Revolution , also called the Revolution of Two Treatises of Government , major statement of the political philosophy of the English philosopher John Locke , published in but substantially composed some years before then. Share :. Miller LibertyContentWriter. Usury is still illegal. Scope of Government What is the Purpose of Government? Pet license deceptions Something is fishy in the U. Social Security Numbers are not required to live or work in the U.
Water Rights How to Recognize freedom if you see it. How to recognize authority when you see it. How to recognize your slavery when you see it. How to recognize oppression when you see it How to recognize conspiracy when you see it. How to recognize martial law when you see it. How to recognize tyranny when you see it Overcome Should a Christian obey government?
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