Study Questions: John Locke, Second Treatise of Government
1. According to Hobbes and Locke, what are the primary characteristics of the “state of nature”? How pleasant or unpleasant are these conditions according to Hobbes and Locke? Why would decide to leave nature for society individuals under such conditions? To what extent are their portrayals of the origins of legitimate government convincing?
2. What is the role of morality and rationality in the “state of nature”? What rights and duties do we already “naturally” possess prior to society? How does Locke’s account compare with that of Hobbes? In virtue of what do we have these duties and rights? Is Locke correct that the basis of morality is natural or do we only have moral obligations by being members of society?
3. What is the most basic right of the state of nature? How does Locke use to justify the power of the state to punish criminals and make war? Are there any limits to those powers of the state for Locke? Evaluate his account in relation to the current issues of the justice/injustice of the death-penalty and the Iraq conflict.
4. According to Locke, what is the purpose of government and what type of government does it justify? What are the proper purposes and limits of government? Explain and evaluate the merits and problems with Locke’s account of government.
5. Compare Hobbes and Locke on sovereign power. Is Locke’s description of sovereignty as restricted consistent? Can power be limited or is it inherently absolute? Evaluate his account by using the contemporary example of the powers exercised by the president and whether there should be more or less restrictions.
6. How does Locke justify private property? What distinguishes common and private property? Why is private property so central to his whole conception of government? Explain why you agree/disagree with this account. Explain your answers.
7. What is the significance of Locke's saying, “every man has a property in his own person”? Explain his account of “property in personhood” and evaluate its strengths and weaknesses in regard to the contemporary example/issue of abortion and whether a woman owns her own body.
8. What is Locke's “theory of value” and what gives value to things? Describe the process by which value is produced. Why might a socialist like Marx agree with this particular aspect of Locke’s thought while disagreeing with most of his general account of property? Explain your answers.
9. What are Locke's ideas on the purposes and the limits of property in general and how does Locke look at the issue of the private ownership of land in particular? How is this related to his characterization of the private ownership of the “fruits of the earth”? How does he explain the historical process by which land comes to be partitioned and privately owned? Is it significant that he uses Cain and Abel in such explanations?
10. Given that relative equality is one of the characteristics of the condition of nature, explain by which process social inequality is produced and inevitable according to Locke. Why do you agree/disagree with his argument for the justness of unequal property?
11. How does Locke argue that property is a basic natural right and the basis of society? Compare his account of property with that of Black Elk. What do these views of property tell us about their conceptions of human nature? What consequences do these conceptions have for how people relate to the natural world?
12. What is the role and importance of consent in the formation, practice, and institutionalization of government? What role do the concepts of the people and the majority play in consensus? Must we consent to society as a whole or only to those laws that we like? Do you agree with Locke on the nature of consent?
13. Do peoples have a right to revolution according to Locke? What would justify such a right and under what circumstances may the government be overthrown? Who may rightly overthrow a government? Would Thomas Jefferson agree or disagree with Locke’s account?