The Cambridge Companion to Locke

by Vere Chappell | Philosophy |
ISBN: 0521387728 Global Overview for this book
Registered by zabelard of Hummelstown, Pennsylvania USA on 4/5/2003
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Journal Entry 1 by zabelard from Hummelstown, Pennsylvania USA on Saturday, April 5, 2003
The "Cambridge Companion to Locke," contains a
number of essays dealing with Locke's philosophy.
One of the more interesting essays has to do with
his political theory. In chapter nine by Richard
Ashcroft, Locke's notion of a pre-political
"state of nature" is discussed. In the state of
nature Locke argues that human being have natural political rights which precede the formation of both the state and the constitution.
Interestingly, then, for a Lockean, one can argue
as against a constitution or a particular interpretation of the constitution that one has
natural rights which cannot be taken away either
by fiat or by interpretation. This approach is
to contrasted with that of the political philosopher Hobbes. Hobbes, who argued that life
is "nasty, brutish, and short," takes the position
that the "state of nature" is characterized by
anarchy and chaos, apparently as some argue having been influenced by the 100 years was in
England between the houses of Lancaster and York.
In any event, Hobbes argued that to the extent that anyone had any rights in the state of nature
they gave them up in exchange for the protection
of a powerful sovereign. For a Hobbesian, therefore, unlike a Lockean, whatever definition
that the state gives to one's rights, even to the
extent of defining them or taking them away, is
totally in the arbitrary discretion of the sovereign. The sovereign, then, only recognizes
rights on a utilitarian basis in order keep himself in power. Presumably the sovereign is
allowed to use all the trick of Machiavelli in
order to do so. The Cambridge Companion to Locke
is an excellent book, and I recommend it.

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