John Locke

5 Pages 1182 Words

In 1690, philosopher John Locke wrote a “very strange doctrine” (272), which was the first introduction of natural rights and the “Equality of Mankind” (143) He openly challenges the accepted beliefs “That all government is absolute monarchy (and) that no man is born free.” Locke breaks up his ideas into a few areas including the state of nature, the creation and purpose of government, the purpose of family, and the importance of property.

Locke centers his strange doctrine on the concept that “We are born into freedom but not in freedom.” as a result of human nature. Locke asserts that “all men are naturally in … a state of perfect freedom.” (269), which means that we are created equally free but never actually experience this equally free state. Nobody therefore maintains any natural power or influence over anyone else. With this freedom however, comes certain responsibilities and duties, which are discussed later in this paper in regard to the first society in which we live; the family.

Locke concedes that it is human nature for an individual to push their own freedom at the expense of someone else. These people that place themselves above others are labeled as “criminals” by Locke. These individuals are not governed by the law of reason and the individuals that are negatively affected by the criminals can not possibly enforce the law of reason in an objective manner. This is why a neutral judge or “umpire” is needed to enforce the law of reason and equality between human beings.

Locke then discusses the importance of property and how property alters human nature’s equal freedom. He argues that “property is his own person” (287 ) meaning that an individuals body is his first form of property. The individual can then mix their labor with land and the land then becomes an extension of that person, thus becoming their property. For example, let’s pretend that you grow apples. By putting...