Second Treatise of Government

Abstract

Born in 1632, John Locke was an important figure in both British and American politics; indeed, there are few, if any, philosophers who were more influential in the development of American political institutions and beliefs than John Locke. Locke's father was a politically influential lawyer who supported Oliver Cromwell and the British Parliament against King Charles 1. John Locke was sent to Oxford at fifteen, where he became friendly with noted chemist Robert Boyle as well as other scientists, all of whom exerted an important influence on young John. After graduation, Locke served as a tutor in Greek. Then, after serving a period as a diplomat, he returned to Oxford to study medicine. Locke was active throughout his life in political and public affairs. At one point he was forced into exile by the king, but he returned to England after the Glorious Revolution in 1688. He died in 1704 at the age of seventy-two. Locke's influence is evident, among other places, in the U.S. Declaration of Independence. In his First Treatise of Government, Locke attacks the divine right of kings; in the Second Treatise, from which the following selection is taken, he addresses the legitimate role of government together with the limits on governmental power. Locke begins by imagining persons in a state of nature in which each is independently pursuing his or her own interests. In that situation, he argues, people possess natural moral rights to life, property, and liberty, rights that are not to be transgressed by others. Given the realities of such a state of nature, it is in the interests of people to move to~rd cooperation and trade and to establish common institutions to provide protection of life and property. Governmental action is severely limited, however, by people's natural rights-a topic to which he devotes considerable attention. Locke also considers the related and important question of how a previously unowned resource may justly become the property of one person.