John Locke's The Second Treaties Of Government

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The Second Treaties of Government was written by John Locke, and English political philosopher around 1688. John Locke was one of the most important and highly influential philosophers in England, and he is still relevant today. He was born August 29, 1632 in Wrington Somerset, England to John Locke and Agnes Keene. While he was an infant, his mother died, so he was raised by his father, who was a county lawyer and a military man. He attended the University of Oxford, where he studied medicine. John died on October 28, 1704. In The Second Treaties of Government, Locke begins with political power. Political power was not given directly to Adam from God, so it was not passed down between generations. He defines political power as "a right …show more content…

John believed that all men had a state of perfect freedom, a state of equality, and a state of liberty. They had a right to act as they wanted to as long as they did not destroy other people or their property or possessions. Locke goes on to say "all men are naturally in that state," he is referring to the state of nature, "and remain so, till by their own consents they make themselves members of some politic society."(7) So, once they agree to become part of the society, they give up their natural state, which is their freedom, equality, and …show more content…

He gave it to all of mankind in common. So, no person should have owned property, but it belonged to everyone. Discussing how people came to own individual pieces of land, he used the natives and how they would work on certain areas of land, eating the food and taking care of it and an example of how land was gradually taken ownership of. It was not purchased, but became owned because of working on the land. "Right and conveniency when together; for as a man had a right to all he could employ his labor upon, so he had no temptation to labor for more than he could make use of it. This left no room for controversy about the title, nor for encroachment on the right of others; what portion a man carved to himself was easily seen, and it was useless, as well as dishonest, to carve himself too much, or to take more than he needed."(23) Locke was saying that man should not take more than he can take care of, that would be

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