John Locke (1632-1704)

john Locke context

• seen as father of liberal philosophy

  • CLASSICAL LIBERALISM

• 17th century

  • civil war in England

  • writing as a response to civil war chaos

• his book ‘Two treatises of government ‘ (1960) regarded as the cornerstone of liberal thought

• His liberal ideas challenged the old belief in the Divine Right of Kings

Locke-human nature

• humans are rational beings, guided by self-interest

• natural rights- idea that humans must have fundamental rights such as a right to property, life, freedom etc

  • ‘inalienable rights’

Locke-the state

• the state exists as a ‘social contract’ between the government and those governed

  • government by consent is what makes the state legitimate

• citizens submit themselves to the state in return for promotion of tolerance, freedom and equality of opportunity

  • Consent is given tactically, assumed from the absence of major social disorder.

  • Consent of the governed is paramount to avoid a tyrannical unmandated government.

  • If society is unhappy with a break in the social contract from the state, power can be regained

    and the state replaced.

• ‘state of nature’ - society prior to the state’s existence

  • Locke thinks it served mankind’s interests well, however recognises the need for the state because there still may have been disputes

    • yet VERY different to Hobbes description: ‘nasty, brutish and short’

• night watchman state- minimal intervention

• State is necessary to resolve conflicts between individuals that would otherwise have no mediator in the state of nature.

  Belief in limited government, the state’ss power ought to be limited to public good and upholding the law.

Locke- society

• society predates/precedes the state

• there are natural laws and natural rights that must be upheld

  • e.g. right to property

Locke- the economy

Laissez faire free market

Locke's Theory of Fiduciary Government.

if either the executive or the legislature betrayed the trust that the people had placed in them when they established the government, the people could resist the regime and set up a new government.