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Property
There are three key things that Locke says about Property:
- Only take as much as you can use before it spoils.
- Leave "enough and as good" for others.
- Only appropriate property through one's own labor.
Dissolution of Government
Government has now been defined both in how it is
created, what it's obligations are, and how it's various powers are separated. All that is left is to define what should happen when the Government fails its responsibilities to the people.
Because Locke believes that people can survive
peacefully in a state of nature, when a government cannot protect its citizens Natural Rights it must be dealt with.
Dissolution of Government - It is the citizens right and
responsibility to remove or alter the government when it fails to protect them and further the greater good.
Punishment
In order to protect one's natural rights,
Locke argues, law and punishment is necessary. Locke's view on punishment and how it interacts within and outside of the state of nature were complicated. For all intents and purposes his ideas on punishment within a government can be summed up as the following...
Punishment - A right of making laws with
penalties of death and consequently all lesser penalties.
Natural Rights
John Locke's most known contribution
to the political world was the idea of Natural Rights.
Natural Rights - Everyone has a right to
Life, Liberty, and Property.
Locke believed that people could exists
without government peacefully because we were all moral and reasonable.
Separation of Powers
To Locke, in order to be a legitimate government there needed to
be a Separation of Powers: a legislative that has the power to further goal of the natural laws and specify punishments for them. An executive that enforced said laws. The third is referred to as "Federative" and has control over international affairs. Within the confines of a government however, we see the government split as follows.
Legislative - Creates laws to protect our rights and promote growth
Executive - Protects the citizens and enforces the laws
Judicial - Interprets the laws and rules on punishments.
Toleration
In Locke's Letter Concerning Toleration, he
develops several lines of arguments that are intended to establish the proper spheres for religion and politics.
Locke gives several arguments for keeping
governments from using force to make people adopt religion, but the core of his argument is this...
Toleration - Governments should not force
religion and that religious institutions are voluntary
A State of Nature
Men should be free to..." to order their
actions, and dispose of their possessions and persons, as they think fit, within the bounds of the law of nature." - John Locke.
State of Nature - a state of equality in which
no one has power over another, and all are free to do as they please.
Within a state of nature people are free to
reatin and protect their natural rights
Consent, Political Obligations, Ends of Government
While Locke believed that people could survive in a state of nature, there were
benefits to government, and a good government came about the following ways...
Consent - the government cannot exist without the
consent of the people.
Political Obligation - people will only give consent if
the government protects their Natural Rights.
Ends of Government - The government must,
promote the well being of the people and protection of natural rights.