Does John Locke's political treatise "Of Civil Government" condemn or condone slavery? Give specific examples from his text that reveal his thoughts on slavery, and compare them with the state of slavery in eighteenth-century Europe
Locke condemned slavery because he valued human freedom. The emphasis in Locke's view of the social contract is clearly placed on diversity of judgment and choice within a context defined by each person's ability to act according to his own will, that is, each person's ability to act freely. Thus, according to Locke, people do not have the freedom to follow their own wills when their conduct is governed by the chosen few elite like those that Hobbes advocated. So when people are controlled by government, the possibility arises that they are not acting according to their own wills.
This, to Locke, is a form of slavery because it denies people the freedom to make their own choices: "And thus every man, by consenting with others to make one body politic under one government, puts himself under an obligation, to every one of that society, to submit to the determination of the majority" (ch. 8, 57-60). Since slavery involves complete and total power of one individual over another, it was clearly a contradiction of Locke's core beliefs.
Locke's condemnation of slavery is perhaps the most clear and determined when he asserts "Though the earth,...
Hobbes vs. Locke Thomas Hobbes and John Locke each provide intriguing opinions concerning the state of nature, but their thinking differs when considering the form of governing that each promotes as being the most effective. The individuals in Locke's example of a government appear to have greater security than those in Hobbes', as the latter considers that there would be nothing wrong with people renouncing some of their rights in order
The second part of this book introduces the more central aspect of his argument's epistemological motive, with the prescription for proper leadership extending from a view that is ethically, intellectually and socially instructed. We can easily detect here the strands of ideology which would be invested into Hobbes view many centuries hence. This is to say that at the crux of his argument, Plato writes that "until philosophers are kings,
Philosophy Thomas Hobbes believed that all matter was in motion and would remain in that state until and unless another force changed it (Hobbes 1651). He saw that thought reflected the motion of things in the material world and affected the senses and the brain until this new motions degraded a previous one. To Hobbes, 1) everything, including the mind and the soul, is material; 2) man is born with a
And thus much shall suffice; concerning what I find by speculation, and deduction, of Soveraign Rights, from the nature, need, and designes of men, in erecting of Common-wealths, and putting themselves under Monarchs, or Assemblies, entrusted with power enough for their protection. Hobbes & Waller 143-144) There would then seem to be little question as to the divides between Hobbes and Locke, with Hobbes stating firmly that they are very different
Human Nature A Comparison of Hobbes' and Plato's Philosophical Views Trying to understand how a philosopher arrives at the reasoned opinions they put on paper is essential to also understanding what they wrote. The how is often a matter of the people they have borrowed from, but that can be an unreliable method of determining the origins of their philosophy also. Two in particular are difficult to judge using the influences they
Furthermore, that the intent of all princes should be to use all means necessary to maintain their powerbase. The works of Thomas Hobbes were revolutionary during his time period. He used his understanding of human nature and extrapolated the need for absolutism within government. The Leviathan was revolutionary in that it expounded Hobbesian concept of a material universe. His essential premise is that everything in the universe consists only of
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