March POL200Y 21st 2012
Locke
- The beginning of modern liberal democratic thought
- drowned out style; Hobbes = scare, Locke = lull
- There is no political authority in the bible (no natural authority)
- So we need an account of legitimate authority
The state of nature and the state of war
- Different things for Locke, same thing for Hobbes
Chapter 3 Section 19
- The state of nature:
o Benevolent to man, not hostile to man (like Hobbes would claim)
o Ideal beginnings, state where men live together with no common authority
o Only applies when ones life is not in danger
- The state of war:
o The use of force without right
o Does not end in the state of nature
- Hobbes and Locke agree that life is intolerably brutal and dangerous in the state of nature
and state of war
- But disagree on Monarchical authority (Locke says monarchical authority is even worse)
o Monarchs are men, so one man commanding a multitude of people and being the
only judge of himself is just as intolerable as the state of nature (reproduces
problem of the state of nature in a different form)
o In favour of liberal democracy
Chapter 2
- State of nature is a state of perfect freedom (S)
- within the bounds of the state of nature -> suggests state of nature is ordered (D)
- A state of equality (S, but Locke claims its obvious, and Hobbes argues for it)
- Law of liberty but not law of licence
o The law is reason, and it teaches all men to consult it
o Law of non-aggression
o Self-preservation is a duty and not a right cant quit till our duty is fulfilled
o When self-preservation is not in competition, you should not take away from
others (obligation to help preserve others as well)
- Effectiveness of laws of nature in the state of nature?
o If people are reasonable, they will observe the law
o If men dont restrain from harming others, they may be justly punished by all
from whom theyve taken (theres no natural, and all equal authority, so all men
are equally responsible for upholding the law)
o Men only have power over each other only insofar as the law of nature requires
- So there is peace in the law of nature because all people are equally in the position of
judge, jury and executioner
o But it is unreasonable for people to be judges in their own cases (s.13)
Chapter 4
- Submission of slave to master is analogous to submission of man to monarchical
authority
-
Emphasizes liberty whereas Hobbes downplayed it
To submit to an ultimate authority, or to enter into such a contract against ones will,
would put you in a threatened state analogous to that which is present in the state of
nature and war you is fate out of your control
o Hobbes must give up liberty to achieve self-preservation
o Locke must retain liberty to achieve self-preservation
Break Questions:
- Woman are equal to men, there is no natural authority
Chapter 5 Property
- A continuation of the anti-Hobbesian argument
- God has given us all things richly
o All earthly things are gods gifts to mankind
o Harmony between reason and revelation
Both reason and revelation say God gave earth to children of men
But reason is silent about god; tells man he has right to his preservation
and whatever he needs to nourish itself
o How is private property legitimate if god gave us all the earth?
Reason teaches that if men wish to use things, we must appropriate things
If things are to sustain someone, they must be used by someone in
particular
o But what makes something mine rather than no ones?
Labour
By mixing our bodies (and its capacities) with what is naturally
common (the earth), this yields a result that is yours
Christian teaching humans are keepers of the world
Abundance?
- Provisos
o Spoilage proviso (1)
o No occasion for quarrel long ago because there were very few people (2)
o Talking about property of land and not objects
o He by his labour does enclose it from the common
- The penury of man demanded him to cultivate the earth (gods command to labour)
o We own all progress from the beginning onward
- So we were given an abundance of land in the beginning, but it was useless until mans
labour
so much do we gain from depending on ourselves
even the devil quotes scripture
- Neediness was not enough to
- Center of Hobbes = power, Locke = money
- Money alone addresses the greatest problem facing man in SON
o We lack sufficient natural incentive to labour hard enough to overcome it
o We lacked the incentive because of natural spoilage
Things of short duration, decay,
It is foolish to invest labour into something that will spoil
Edible=perishable
-
Nature fails to give us this incentive
o What to do with surplus Charity? No trade/bargain? No Sell? Yes
Money is imperishablelasting and scarce
o But money gives us the incentive
We dont trust in god, we trust in those who pay money
God = useful things that are perishable
Man = laborious things that have invented value
Now everyone is free to acquire
o Restrictions no longer apply because nothing is wasted anymore
Money is the greatness invention because it unveils limitless acquisitiveness
o Life is endless flight away from the poverty that is our natural lot
o Money is progress
o Become rich by making others lives better (market principle)