John Locke
It was a world in political turmoil, where the parliament and the kings of the dominant power, England, traded places in influencing people lives by overthrowing each other periodically. It was the 17th century. People cried out for a new and concise guideline of how to govern their nation. Among that great thinkers of the time there emerged one, John Locke, who introduced a unique and effective political theory. He based it on the most fundamental and natural right of the human being - his freedom. Locke takes the concept of freedom to a plateau never attempted before, placing it as the very core of living in a civil and just society. Locke demonstrates flawlessly how freedom is essential to proper government by describing the contract between the ruler and the ruled, the inconveniences in the state of nature that just government rectifies, and elucidating that all mankind is inherently born free and equal. John Locke introduces an effective political theory where the people enter into a reversible contract with the government that they themselves erect, in order to protect their freedom. According to Locke, the creation of a political, or civil, society is "...where-ever any number of men, in the state of nature, enter into so
Locke directly attacks Robert Filmer's "Patriarcha" and says that every man is born free and equal and that perpetual patriarcha, which is the subordination (descended down from Adam) of an individual to a father or a mother, does not exist. Once a child is able to reason and provide for himself he is as free as his father was when he was able to do the above. Locke says, "...parents have sort of a rule and jurisdiction over them, when they come into the world, and for some time after; but it is but a temporary one" (31). Maturity and reason set the children free from their parents. One can break away from his parents and follow his own will because he is equal to his parents. A father's authority and government collapses once an individual is at an age where he is able to care for himself and think for himself. This has a direct impact on authority. However, Locke makes a clear distinction between two types of authority. For him, patriarcha is utterly wrong between a king and his subjects. That is why he doesn't believe in divine right monarchs, who like fathers of their family oblige the people, their "children," to complete subordination to the monarch's will. If there is no patriarcha, there should be no divine right monarchs. It is ironic that Locke, who clearly stands against patriarcha, does not stand against another type of authority - the one that exists between the master and his slave. One might find this to be an inconsistency that mars Locke's political theory. However, true to the times that Locke lived in, he did not consider slaves part of the civil society. He writes that "the prefect condition of slavery [is] between a lawful conqueror and a captive...and being in the state of slavery, not capable of any property, cannot in that state be considered as any part of civil society" (17, 45). Slaves that are captured in a just war do not get to be free. Patriarcha is wrong in every case, except between a lawful master and his slave. Locke's political theory is still effective and consistent because slaves are not part of a civil society since they cannot own property. The concept of freedom from subordination to an unjust authority pertains only to civil societies. Human beings in civil society, as one body, as one voice, need to erect a limited monarch who will enforce the law of freedom from patriarcha where everyone is equal.
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Approximate Word count = 1846
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)
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