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"john locke" second essay
Rights theory essay
John Locke and its impact on subsequent philosophies
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Natural Law
The School of Natural Law Philosophy was an intellectual group of philosophers. They developed new ways of thinking about religion and government.
Natural law was based on moral principles, but the overall outlook changed with the times.
John Locke was a great philosopher from the middle of the 17th century.
He was a primary contributor to the new ideas concerning natural law of that time. He argued that humans in the state of nature are free and equal, yet insecure in their freedom. When they enter society, they surrender only such rights as are necessary for their security and for the common good. He also believed that each individual retains fundamental prerogatives drawn from natural law relating to the integrity of the person and property. This natural rights theory was the basis of not only the American, but also the French revolution. 1 During his lifetime, he wrote many essays and letters to his colleagues on a variety of topics:2
• Letter on Toleration (1689)
• Second Letter on Toleration (1690)
• Two Treatises of Government (1690)
• Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1690)
• Some Considerations of the Consequences of Lowering of Interest, and Raising the Value of Money (1691)
• Third Letter on Toleration (1692)
• Some Thoughts Concerning Education (1693)
• Further Considerations Concerning Raising the Value of Money (1693)
• The Reasonableness of Christianity (1695)
• A Vindication of the Reasonableness of Christianity (1695)
• A Second Vindication of the Reasonableness of Christianity (1695)
• A Letter to the Bishop of Worcester (1697)
• Discourse on Miracles
• Fourth Letter for Toleration
• An Examination of Father Malebranche's Opinion of Seeing All Things in God
• Remarks on Some of Mr Norris's Books
• Conduct of the Understanding
Locke's greatest philosophical contribution is his Essay Concerning
Human Understanding. In the winter of 1670, five or six friends were talking in his room, probably in London. The topic was the "principles of morality and revealed religion," but arguments arose and no real progress or serious discussion took place. Then, he goes on to say, "it came into my thoughts that we took a wrong course, and that before we set ourselves upon inquiries of that nature, it was necessary to examine our own abilities, and see what objects our understandings were, or were not, fitted to deal with." At the request of his friends, Locke agreed to write down his thoughts on this question at their next meeting, and he expected that a single sheet of paper would suffice for the purpose. Little did he realize the importance of the issue which he raised, and that it would take up his free time for nearly twenty years.
Benjamin Franklin and Henry David Thoreau have been thought of as two powerful philosophers in history. Both men were alive centuries ago, but their unique ways of life and ideas still exist in some of history’s most admirable figures. Each man had a judgment that went beyond the era they existed in, but is still obvious in today’s culture. Even though both men are credited for their wise principles, their beliefs do not always coincide with one another. However, one thing they do have in common is that they both revolutionized America through their thoughts, actions, and distinctive opinions on how to improve the world around them.
without government. He said that life would be “war of all against all,” and that life would be
figure for women’s rights because he thought everyone should be equal no matter the race of the
Locke claims the state of nature exists in a non-political society, where men are free individuals who are bound by no government or poli...
He believed that every individual is equal before the law. In his book, he mentions that every individual has a legal right in owning property and the possessions that they desire as long as the possessions of others are not harmed. “So he has by nature a power not only to preserve his property, that is, his life, liberty and possessions, against harm from other men” (Locke, 87). This passage showcases how what once was a collective possession becomes more of an individualistic one, such as property and liberty. He also states that the nature of property and his possessions without a man’s own consent cannot be taken from him or harmed by other individuals: "Every individual man has a property in his own person; this is something that nobody else has any right to" (Locke,
person’s life in the U.S. He had made life as equal as he could, putting all he had in his speeches.
He stated that everything is in a state of flux. Everything is constantly moving and changing and there is no such thing as stability. That’s when the quote he’s most famous for comes in, “You cannot step into the same river twice.” At first you may think that it’s a lie because you can physically step into the same river twice, but taking a closer look at it it’s not possible because the water is not the same because when you moved your foot you changed the flow of the water making his statement true. Think about it this way, like the world it connects to the idea of the river; it’s constantly moving. You step again into what seems to be the same river but in reality it is not the same water into which you step. Meaning every day nothing is the same and it’s the start of something
way in which the world works. An example of this in the world can be
Each political theorist agrees that before men came to govern themselves, they all existed in a state of nature. The state of nature is the condition men were in before political government came into existence, and what society would be if there was no government. In relation to this the two theorists raised as much praise as criticism for their famous masterpieces.
can draw the conclusion that he had contemplated the subject to have the capacity to think of the
I found this assignment far more difficult than I thought it would be at first glance. While thinking about it on the way home from class, I discarded one idea after another because technology had touched nearly everything I would think of. As Dennis Baron, author of From Pencils to Pixels wrote, once we are used to certain technologies “we come to think of them as natural rather than techEven thinking about going to a national park, the truth is that just by setting it aside as a "natural" state...makes it in essence, not natural because were it not for the decrees of humanity, it would be over run with fast food stores and gas stations. In fact, sadly, writing is in one sense both creative and destructive to nature. A tree is destroyed for the very paper we write on. The question arose, is there really any such thing as natural in the 21st Century or is that a word that no longer applies in its truest sense. That, of course, led to thoughts on just what is "natural." My instinctive definition of natural is that it is not influenced or hampered or changed by humanity. So in some regards I think my initial conclusion is correct, that at least here in the Midwestern area of United States, finding something in nature that was not influenced in some way by technology or human interference might prove impossible. So the words that would end up being my project ran round and round in my head on the long ride home, “Nature is as man decrees, hedged by his technologies.”
The government our nation has established today has come a long way from its roots. Starting with the Napoleonic Code and eventually ending with the Ratified Constitution of the United States.
State of Nature - Theories about how humans were before society changed us. Hobbes believed it was ‘man v. man’, while Locke believed people were equal, and would not harm each other.
"Thomas Paine "These ar the times that try men's soul."ushistory.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Nov 2011. .
his definition of justice. I agree with his theory of human nature but not his