John Locke
Perhaps one of, if not the, most historically influential political thinkers of the western world was . , the man who initiated what is now known as British Empiricism, is also considered highly influential in establishing grounds, theoretically at least, for the constitution of the United States of America. The basis for understanding Locke is that he sees all people as having natural God given rights. As God’s creations, this denotes a certain equality, at least in an abstract sense. This religious back drop acts as a the foundation for all of Locke’s theories, including his theories of individuality, private property, and the state. The reader will be shown how and why people ...
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does by that consciousness which is inseparable from thinking. This ability to reflect, think, and reason intelligibly is one of the many gifts from God and is that gift which separates us from the realm of the beast. The ability to reason and reflect, although universal, acts as an explanation for individuality. All reason and reflection is based on personal experience and reference. Personal experience must be completely individual as no one can experience anything quite the same as another.
This leads to determining why Locke theorized that all humans, speaking patriarchially with respect to the time why all men, have a natural right to property. Every man is a creation of God’s, and as such is endowed with certain individual abilities and characteristics as gifts from God. Not being able to know God’s exact wishes for man, Locke believed that all men have an obligation to develop and caress these gifts. In essence, each man was in charge of his own body and ...
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was pointless, irrelevant and would merely be an overzealous exercision of power. Pointless because as long as there was more for others in the common store, one was not infringing on another’s natural rights. Irrelevant because property production or the use of labor was completely individualistic and one should not be able to control another’s labor as it is an infringement on their natural rights.
There are however limits, as far as property and labor are concerned. One limit is that of non destruction. God did not create anything for man to destroy. The amount produced by any man should be kept in check by his level of destruction. For example, there is a big difference ...
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"John Locke." Essayworld.com. Essayworld.com, 7 Nov. 2005. Web. 22 Nov. 2024. <http://www.essayworld.com/essays/John-Locke/36108>
"John Locke." Essayworld.com. November 7, 2005. Accessed November 22, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/John-Locke/36108.
"John Locke." Essayworld.com. November 7, 2005. Accessed November 22, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/John-Locke/36108.
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