John Locke 2

1
John Locke 2

• Social Contract, continued

2
1. State of Nature

• a state of perfect freedomwithin the bounds of
  the law of nature. (para.4)
• A state also of equalityno one having more
  power than another. (para.4)
• It is a state of liberty then, but not a state
  of licence. There are some prohibitions
  suicide, murder, theft (all the usual ones, in
  fact!). (para.6)

3

• The state of nature has a law of nature to
  govern it, which obliges everyone and reason,
  which is that law, teaches all mankindthat being
  all equal and independent, no one ought to harm
  another in his life, health, liberty, or
  possessions. (para. 6)
• Compare with Kant

4

• Who enforces this law of nature?
• Everybody
• the execution of the law of nature is, in that
  state, put into every mans hands, whereby
  everyone has a right to punish the transgressors
  of that law (para. 7).

5

• Note
• this state of nature already has a moral law -
  Lockes contract theory does not aim to justify
  morality, but politics. And its morality is based
  on Divine Law, Law of Nature, Law of Reason.

6

• One of the central features of the state of
  nature, for Locke, is the creation of (private)
  property.
• Property is created when a man mixes his labour
  with the raw materials of nature - the most
  obvious example being agriculture. Farming gives
  one a claim on the cultivated land, and on its
  produce.

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• So, even in the state of nature, the institution
  of private property had been created.
• And, in fact, it is one of the sources of the
  dissatisfaction with that state - and its
  possible degeneration into a state of war.

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2. The State of War

• Against Hobbes, Locke argues that the states of
  nature and war are very different.
• Nature peace, good-will, mutual assistance and
  preservation.
• War enmity, malice, violence and mutual
  destruction.
• (para.19)

9

• So, how does a state of war come about?
• In the state of nature, any act of aggression
  from somebody else gives me the right to defend
  myself (and property) to the utmost (because
  there is no law or police force to defend me).

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• In the absence of any such external authority,
  the tendency (and right) will be for this
  temporary state of war to continue -
  indefinitely.
• To avoid this state of waris one great reason
  of mens putting themselves into society and
  quitting the state of nature. (para. 21)

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3.Political Societies

• Consent the only way a man can leave the state
  of nature, and take on the bonds of civil
  society is by consent. (para.95)
• Men will do that for their comfortable, safe,
  and peaceable living amongst one another, in a
  secure enjoyment of their properties, and a
  greater security against any that are not of it.
  (para.95)

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• The great and chief end, therefore, of mens
  uniting into commonwealths and putting themselves
  under government, is the preservation of their
  property. (para.124)
• Property is earlier defined as peoples lives,
  liberties and estates (para123).

13

• Note nobody can be obliged to join such a
  community, and any number of people can remain,
  permanently, outside them although in practice
  very few do.

14

• Majority within this newly formed group, all
  decisions must be made by a majority. Any
  individual entering the group agrees to abide by
  the majority decision - without that, no
  community, no collective action, would be
  possible. (para. 96-99)

15

• Locke replies to possible objections - to the
  charge that no such coming together in a contract
  could/did ever happen.
• His reply clearly shows that his view is that
  these contracts are actual historical events -
  even though no clear historical record remains.

16

• So, for Locke, the state of nature, and the
  contract which replaces it, are both actual
  historical facts. In other words, for him, the
  Social Contract Theory is both an explanation and
  a justification of (certain kinds of) political
  groups.
• On this point, we will see an important contrast
  with Rawls (and contemporary contract theory)
  later.

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Some Implications

• Governments are only legitimate if they are
  founded on the consent of citizens. The great
  evil to be avoided is Tyranny.
• The principle of majority-rule must be followed
  in deciding legislation.
• Governments have come into existence to protect
  the security (of property) of citizens and that
  is all they can do legitimately protect the
  common good. This might imply, for example,
  that they cannot interfere in religious belief,
  or private practices.

18

• Governments must govern by established standing
  laws, promulgated and known to the people, and
  not by extemporary decrees (para.131) this is
  known today as the rule of law.
• They must engage impartial and honest judges to
  make judgements about these laws the principle
  of an independent judiciary.

19

• In general, (private) property is a crucial
  feature of this view of human life it is one of
  the primary goods. It is one of the prime
  motivators in forming societies, and one of the
  prime goods to be protected by society.

20

• In Locke, we can see the emergence of many
  familiar principles of modern western political
  theory and it is all founded, or justified, on
  the basis of a social contract a
  mutual-protection agreement.

21

• Next time, reading J.S.Mill On Liberty we will
  see further development of these principles
  this time with strong emphasis on protecting the
  liberty of individuals within societies
  especially from the tyranny of the majority.