abinash phulkonwar

2025-01-05

John Locke

1632-1704, Born in Somerset in England; Parents, protestant, trader/landowner sympathetic to Parliamentarians and Whigs party.

Time of Glorious revolution - 1688 - establishment of limited constitutional Monarchy, Parliamentary supremacy, and emergence of representative Democracy.

European settlement in America, rise of capitalism and Bourgeois class.

Studied literature, medicine, philosophy, chemistry, theology; was active in Whig party, patron/friend of Earl of Shaftsbury, helped framing constitution of Carolina state of USA.

Books:

  1. A letter Concerning Toleration - 1689
  2. Two Treatises of Government - his political philosophy - 1689
  3. An Essay Concerning Human Understanding - 1690
  4. Some Thoughts Concerning Education - 1693
  1. In "Two Treatises of Government" refutation to Robert Filmer’s Patriarcha

Guiding and spiritual father of 18th century enlightenment, classical liberalism, capitalism and free market economy.

Influenced both French and American revolution and American declaration of Independence.

  1. Political association or commonwealth set up as a result of social contract to protect and further natural rights;

His Political Philosophy

  1. In state of nature men have perfect freedom and equality, reason and rationality to self-govern themselves (given by god -> identify natural law), acquire property and live socially with peace, goodwill, mutual assistance and preservation;
  2. But in absence of universally accepted laws, impartial judge, and higher power to settle disputes, peace is fragile, danger loom large of conflict and war;
  3. Hence, to remove the inconvenience of nature of state and to better protect their rights men enter into contract with one and all to set up sovereign community by transferring some of their rights;
  4. Political community, then by majority set up the government - legislative and executive; legislative is supreme, executive subordinate to legislative;
  5. Government/sovereign is not absolute, it also is party to the contract and bound by its obligation to act for common good within the parameters of civil laws;
  6. Citizen have rights to resist and change Government acting arbitrarily, tyrannically, and fails to protect the rights of life, liberty, and property;

Nature of Men

  1. Mainly found in his Essay concerning Human Understanding - 1690;
  2. Human beings are naturally endowed with certain basic instincts such as decency, goodness, socially inclination, and capability of ruling themselves by sense of reason;
  3. Man seeks pleasure, avoid pain, is self-interested but is rational due to sense of reason which help him to discover laws of nature and enable him to cooperate with others and live somewhat peacefully with others, recognizing one's rights vis-a-vis others;
  4. Men are naturally able to govern themselves and live with harmony with others by the law of nature; reason in them recognizes the natural laws, which are like moral commands of God, consistent with humanly reason;
  5. Men are rational because of innate sense of reason; with the help of reason, human beings learn to control their emotions, anger, love, and so on;
  6. Some men may be selfish, competitive, and aggressive. But this is an exception than rule;

State of Nature

  1. Human life "without any common superior authority to judge between them" - no legitimate political authority to settle disputes, maintain peace and order;
  2. Need not be prehistoric, nor a condition peculiar to primitive men, not pre-social, nor even pre-political - in every era/time people may find themselves in state of nature!
  3. Each individual is free, equal and independent; but bound by law of nature (state of perfect liberty & equality, yet it is not a state of license);
  4. "Private Judgment": Each one is judge, jury and executioner in his own case and whenever breaches of natural law committed by others;
  5. Each individual posses natural rights: Perfect freedom and equality; right to preserve his life, liberty, and property and to be judge and punish breaches of natural law;
  6. But all the rights, power and jurisdiction is reciprocal-only as recognized/accepted by others;
  7. State of general ‘peace, goodwill, mutual assistance and preservation’;
  8. "State of precarious peace": Inconvenient and danger of war/conflict looming large( why?) because each one is self-interested, want recognition/power/property, was judge in his own and other’s case, and violation of some self-interested, aggressive, degenerate men;

The Social Contract

  1. People came out of state of nature through mutual agreement by surrendering their rights to be judge in their own case and in case of others to a superior political authority by a way of contract/covenant among themselves (Right of Judgment);
  2. All agreed to pool their natural power and uphold natural rights (of life, liberty, property) of one another by transferring some of their rights to a sovereign;

Why social contract? 4 problems/inconvenience in the state of nature

  1. No known, universal, standard law - private interpretation of natural laws;
  2. No impartial judge to settle disputes;
  3. No higher accepted power to enforce punishment for breach of law;
  4. Licentious, irrational, self-interested behaviors of few aggressive, degenerate men;

2 step contract:

  1. 1st: Contract to form political community by pooling their powers and vesting their rights; all consented unanimously to obey laws of the state/government formed by the contract;
  2. 2nd: Political community by majority set up State Institutions/Government - legislative and executive (President/PM, King/Monarch);

Legislative - make laws conforming to natural laws;

Executive to interpret and administer law in particular cases; legislative supreme, executive subordinate to it;

Features of the Social Contract

  1. 2 stage contract: 1st stage by express consent of all, 2nd stage by majority vote and tacit consent;
  2. Only partial natural right of being judge in own case and in cases of others is surrendered, natural Right of life, liberty, property Not surrendered;
  3. Purpose of the contract is to increase the effective natural rights of life, liberty and property of the contracting individuals;
  4. The Government is also party to the contract, hence all provisions of contract are applicable to Government, too;
  5. Government is to follow natural law, is not above law, not absolute;
  6. The community is permanent (1st Contract), not the government, which can be dissolved (2nd contract) and changed by the community;
  7. Sovereignty resides in the community, expressed through its majority by the representative legislative - popular sovereignty;

Locke's Social Contract: 4 layers of Political Order - George H Sabine

Nature of Government

  1. Government is formed by 2nd step contract by majority vote by the political community formed by 1st step contract;
  2. 2 part of Government - legislative and Executive: Legislative is the supreme; executive subordinate to legislature;
  3. Government as trustee to the community and its members - bound to act to further public good/common good;
  4. Constitutional government - government must govern with the consent of people, government is created by the will of the people, an artificial device - dose not embody superior reasons;

Duties of Government:

  1. To make know and universal law conforming to natural laws - legislative duties;
  2. To protect natural rights and to adjudicate dispute (punish one who breaks law), maintain peace and order - executive duties;
  3. To manage relations with other state/communities and protect from external aggression - federating duties;
  1. Limited Government: should take (as tax) just what is needed to maintain order, protect rights, maintain peace & order, protect form external aggression;
  2. People/community have rights to overthrow and change government if it fails to protect rights of citizen and fails to maintain peace and order, act arbitrarily, and is tyrannical;

His theory of Property Rights

  1. God has given the Earth and all its natural resources to all men in common and has also gave reason to man to make use of it to the best advantage of life and convenience;
  2. Workmanship model: since persons own their own body and labor, when they mix their labor with that which is unowned it becomes their property. Property as "fruit of labor";
  3. No consent of others required to acquire private property;
  4. In the wider sense, right to property includes the rights to life, liberty, and external possessions;

3 principle of property:

  1. One may only have as much property as one can use before it spoils (wastage restriction);
  2. One must leave "enough and as good" for others (sufficiency restriction);
  3. One may only acquire property through one's own labor (labor restriction);
  1. Also, a duty of charity towards those who have no other means of subsistence (first treaties);

Taxation rights of Government:

  1. Property is a natural right derived from natural law, it is therefore prior to the government. It's for the protection of property that men enter into an agreement or contract;
  2. Government has no right to take property to use for the common good without the consent of the property owner. Minimum taxation by the majority vote of the legislative;

Why he is considered father of Classical Liberalism?

  1. Bedrock of classical liberalism - right of individuals, limited constitutional government, consent as base of legitimate government, tolerance/pluralism emanate for Locke's political philosophy;
  2. Philosophical bases to capitalism and free market Economy - unalienable right to property, minimum taxation, Government to maintain peace, settle dispute;
  3. He combined individualism, utilitarianism, capitalism with moral reasoning and theology;

Critique of Locke's Political philosophy

  1. Many feel Locke wrote to provide theoretical bases to emerging capitalist class and constitutional Monarchy in England;
  2. Natural right to private property, limited Government having minimal taxing rights, representative Government, decisions by majority, voting rights only to propertied male;

His justification of private property drew maximum criticism:

  1. 3 restrictions (wastage, sufficiency, labor)  are meaningless - facade;
  2. Macpherson - "possessive individualism"; differential rationality between capitalists and wage laborers and division of society into distinct classes;
  3. Waldron, Simmons and Nozick criticized "workmanship model" and principles of "mixing labor";
  1. Basic of natural law - reason or universal moral precepts or divine command?
  2. Justifying patriarchy, wage-labor, no political rights to atheists, contradictory theory & practice of slavery;