How Did John Locke Justify The Value Of The Individual?
John Locke believes in the Imago Dei, that is the belief that humans are made in the image and likeness of God. Since humans are believed to be created in the image and likeness of God, Locke proposed that the value of the individual is justified by the authority of God. This means that God gave humans the exclusive right to their body and because there is value in their body then there is value in their labor. From this, Locke reasoned that people have a right to private property which is taking a good out of the commons and adding value to it through labor. In Locke’s vision of the social contract God gives authority to private property, and consequently a government is required to protect those rights. Because man is imperfect and is at
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the center of the government, many protections have to be put in place for that enterprise to be moral. This was Locke’s goal and many governments followed his guidelines. Many of these governments still exist in some form today. Yet, many would not say their authority comes from God, rather they are secular in nature. This is the genius of Locke’s thinking, it has stood the test of time.
Prior to Locke, it was believed that men could be controlled by one person, in most cases this was a monarch and the state had power over men.
Locke changed this way of thinking, he believed that men developed power in themselves, which they kept and it could be transferred. However, just as previously philosophers had used the authority of God to justify the power of a monarch, Locke used the authority of God to justify the value of the individual. Locke constantly referred to God in his writings, however, his writings are not reliant on being God based. Even in today's secular society, Locke’s philosophy is still valid because Locke's value of the individual are timeless. Locke figured out that left to his own devices man would tend to a perpetual state of conflict. It was Locke’s was goal to figure out how to avoid this. His insight was the theological importance for private property, in man’s own self interest he could make a better society. Locke’s ideas on the exclusive right to oneself are as valid today as the were when they were written hundreds of years …show more content…
ago. Locke believes you have an exclusive claim to your life and your property. Locke states that God gave you the right to your body and because of that you have a right to your labor.
He believes that the human person has inherit rights given by God. Because these rights are given by God people warrant exclusive claim to their life and the fruits of their Labour. “God and his Reason commanded him [man] to subdue the Earth, i.e. improve it for the benefit of Life, and therein lay out something upon it that was his own, his labor.”(V, 32, 291) Property is the result of a person’s labor mixed with a good. By a good Locke means any physical or mental capacity that man has improved on. He states that you have an inherent right to property. Locke's argument for private property is based on the Imago Dei, however, in today's secular society people believe it not for its theological views but its logical perspective.
Man is free to do anything so long as he doesn’t infringe his rights on anyone else. This is the basis for modern society. However, without an external judge it is hard for someone to stay away from conflict and so the State of Nature easily tends toward the State of War. With this when a perpetrator takes another’s rights, then the victim has the right to kill the perpetrator. When someone infringes on someone else's rights they forego their own, even if the perpetrator committed a minor offense. With Lockean perspective people enter into the social contract out of fear for their lives to gain a more perfect freedom, freedom from anxiety over being killed. In the State of Nature everyone has an equal right to be free and when their rights are attacked, they have an equal opportunity to defend those rights. But man cannot live in a continuous State of War, he needs an external judge. Locke attempts to make the government this external judge. This judge has authority because it has been given to him by the ruled.
The bare materials Nature gives us are worthless in their own right.
Locke believes that human labor gives value to a common good. Locke lays the groundwork for capital society when he says “To which let me add, that he who appropriates land to himself by his labour, does not lessen but increase the common stock of mankind” (V, 37, 294). By recognizing that when labor is given value, then private goods are more valuable than public goods. In stating this, Locke has come up with a whole new philosophy, one that emphasizes the value of the person over the value of the state. Again we see the influence of the Imago Dei but religion does not have to be
emphasized.
Another of Locke’s teachings is about the State of Nature. This is where Man is free to do anything so long as he doesn’t infringe his rights on anyone else. Locke states that the State of Nature is a “State of Liberty but not a State of Licence”(II, 6, 270) meaning that in the State of Liberty everyone has equal rights, in the bounds of the Law of Nature, but they are not in a State of Licence where they have permission to infringe on other people’s rights. This means that people, under the State of Liberty, have equal right in executing the law and when their rights are attacked they have an equal opportunity to defend their rights. However, when it comes to executing the law, people are biased in handling their discretions with those around them. This is how the State of Liberty, where freedom is checked on an individual basis, descends into a State of War. When an external judge is not used to mediate a dispute, it is difficult to deliver equal punishment for equal misconduct. Due to this, the State of Liberty under the Law of Nature is similar to a State of licence due to self-bias. Locke choses to constrain the Law of Nature from descending into the state of war by the intervention of a moral (God based) government.
Lockean social contract is based on people having freedom before their moral government. Locke believes that men have an inherent right to freedom in the law of Nature and the government is created to protect those rights. “Civil government is the proper Remedy for the Inconveniences of the State of Nature” (II, 13, 276) Since the State of Nature cascades into the State of War due to man’s self-bias, the government acts as the separate but equal legislative, executive, and judicial branch. Though this authority can protect a person, unless sovereign has firm limits on authority it will be a tyranny no better than the State of Nature. Locke also believes in the separate but equal branches of government because no one is able to judge themselves impartially. Civil society is to imitate rights of nature; Locke believes that people tend to favor themselves and who they love in the execution of the State of Nature. Locke realizes that because man is in the image of God, he tends to think he is more knowledgeable than he actually is. Locke realizes this fallacy that, the individual has a personal bias, and can not fairly govern the masses. Because of this there needs to be a Legislature, Executive, and Judicial branch and that these need to be separate but equal. Legislature makes the law but needs to be subject of its own laws so it can not be executioner. Since Executive carries out the laws it can not have emotion and sway in judging a case. In the State of Nature man is the judge and the executioner, and he gives this up, the right to will, in civil society. Judicial has requirement of judging the executive and to apply the rule of law as a stand in for the natural law. In Locke’s famous quote on man having a Property in his own Person, Locke implies that man is superior to all lesser creatures, and man is inferior to no one. Thus, no one, other than the producer himself has a right to what he produces. What he uses and improves by force of his own sweat is something of his own forever. He has in fact removed it from the common state and made it uniquely his own, this means he has complete control over it. In economics, there is an idea known as “the tragedy of the commons” where nothing gets done in a common area because everyone has a claim to the benefits, but no one wants to put in the work to maintain it so things fall in disarray.The solution to the tragedy of the commons is to grant private property rights. Locke preceded this economic theory buy centuries, his ideas of man controlling his own property and having the ability to profit from his own hard work is the fundamental principle of modern market based economies. Although Locke was influenced by God to declare this concept, it is still just as valid in modern secular economies.
Thus, Locke’s view of man has been influenced by his view of God. Since God had given the right to oneself, “God hath appointed government to restrain the partiality and violence of Men”(II, 13, 275-276). Even if God had not been the appointed of government, the idea that the violence of men needs to be restrained is still valid in any secular society, this is why Locke’s theses are still in practice today. Divine Law, the Imago Dei, is at the core of his philosophy and provides the basis for it but is not the overriding message in his argument. The central theme is the value of labor expressed through property rights. That is why Locke's ideas have stood the test of time, and are still valid today in a much more secular society, than they were in his own day.
the center of the government, many protections have to be put in place for that enterprise to be moral. This was Locke’s goal and many governments followed his guidelines. Many of these governments still exist in some form today. Yet, many would not say their authority comes from God, rather they are secular in nature. This is the genius of Locke’s thinking, it has stood the test of time.
Prior to Locke, it was believed that men could be controlled by one person, in most cases this was a monarch and the state had power over men.
Locke changed this way of thinking, he believed that men developed power in themselves, which they kept and it could be transferred. However, just as previously philosophers had used the authority of God to justify the power of a monarch, Locke used the authority of God to justify the value of the individual. Locke constantly referred to God in his writings, however, his writings are not reliant on being God based. Even in today's secular society, Locke’s philosophy is still valid because Locke's value of the individual are timeless. Locke figured out that left to his own devices man would tend to a perpetual state of conflict. It was Locke’s was goal to figure out how to avoid this. His insight was the theological importance for private property, in man’s own self interest he could make a better society. Locke’s ideas on the exclusive right to oneself are as valid today as the were when they were written hundreds of years …show more content…
ago. Locke believes you have an exclusive claim to your life and your property. Locke states that God gave you the right to your body and because of that you have a right to your labor.
He believes that the human person has inherit rights given by God. Because these rights are given by God people warrant exclusive claim to their life and the fruits of their Labour. “God and his Reason commanded him [man] to subdue the Earth, i.e. improve it for the benefit of Life, and therein lay out something upon it that was his own, his labor.”(V, 32, 291) Property is the result of a person’s labor mixed with a good. By a good Locke means any physical or mental capacity that man has improved on. He states that you have an inherent right to property. Locke's argument for private property is based on the Imago Dei, however, in today's secular society people believe it not for its theological views but its logical perspective.
Man is free to do anything so long as he doesn’t infringe his rights on anyone else. This is the basis for modern society. However, without an external judge it is hard for someone to stay away from conflict and so the State of Nature easily tends toward the State of War. With this when a perpetrator takes another’s rights, then the victim has the right to kill the perpetrator. When someone infringes on someone else's rights they forego their own, even if the perpetrator committed a minor offense. With Lockean perspective people enter into the social contract out of fear for their lives to gain a more perfect freedom, freedom from anxiety over being killed. In the State of Nature everyone has an equal right to be free and when their rights are attacked, they have an equal opportunity to defend those rights. But man cannot live in a continuous State of War, he needs an external judge. Locke attempts to make the government this external judge. This judge has authority because it has been given to him by the ruled.
The bare materials Nature gives us are worthless in their own right.
Locke believes that human labor gives value to a common good. Locke lays the groundwork for capital society when he says “To which let me add, that he who appropriates land to himself by his labour, does not lessen but increase the common stock of mankind” (V, 37, 294). By recognizing that when labor is given value, then private goods are more valuable than public goods. In stating this, Locke has come up with a whole new philosophy, one that emphasizes the value of the person over the value of the state. Again we see the influence of the Imago Dei but religion does not have to be
emphasized.
Another of Locke’s teachings is about the State of Nature. This is where Man is free to do anything so long as he doesn’t infringe his rights on anyone else. Locke states that the State of Nature is a “State of Liberty but not a State of Licence”(II, 6, 270) meaning that in the State of Liberty everyone has equal rights, in the bounds of the Law of Nature, but they are not in a State of Licence where they have permission to infringe on other people’s rights. This means that people, under the State of Liberty, have equal right in executing the law and when their rights are attacked they have an equal opportunity to defend their rights. However, when it comes to executing the law, people are biased in handling their discretions with those around them. This is how the State of Liberty, where freedom is checked on an individual basis, descends into a State of War. When an external judge is not used to mediate a dispute, it is difficult to deliver equal punishment for equal misconduct. Due to this, the State of Liberty under the Law of Nature is similar to a State of licence due to self-bias. Locke choses to constrain the Law of Nature from descending into the state of war by the intervention of a moral (God based) government.
Lockean social contract is based on people having freedom before their moral government. Locke believes that men have an inherent right to freedom in the law of Nature and the government is created to protect those rights. “Civil government is the proper Remedy for the Inconveniences of the State of Nature” (II, 13, 276) Since the State of Nature cascades into the State of War due to man’s self-bias, the government acts as the separate but equal legislative, executive, and judicial branch. Though this authority can protect a person, unless sovereign has firm limits on authority it will be a tyranny no better than the State of Nature. Locke also believes in the separate but equal branches of government because no one is able to judge themselves impartially. Civil society is to imitate rights of nature; Locke believes that people tend to favor themselves and who they love in the execution of the State of Nature. Locke realizes that because man is in the image of God, he tends to think he is more knowledgeable than he actually is. Locke realizes this fallacy that, the individual has a personal bias, and can not fairly govern the masses. Because of this there needs to be a Legislature, Executive, and Judicial branch and that these need to be separate but equal. Legislature makes the law but needs to be subject of its own laws so it can not be executioner. Since Executive carries out the laws it can not have emotion and sway in judging a case. In the State of Nature man is the judge and the executioner, and he gives this up, the right to will, in civil society. Judicial has requirement of judging the executive and to apply the rule of law as a stand in for the natural law. In Locke’s famous quote on man having a Property in his own Person, Locke implies that man is superior to all lesser creatures, and man is inferior to no one. Thus, no one, other than the producer himself has a right to what he produces. What he uses and improves by force of his own sweat is something of his own forever. He has in fact removed it from the common state and made it uniquely his own, this means he has complete control over it. In economics, there is an idea known as “the tragedy of the commons” where nothing gets done in a common area because everyone has a claim to the benefits, but no one wants to put in the work to maintain it so things fall in disarray.The solution to the tragedy of the commons is to grant private property rights. Locke preceded this economic theory buy centuries, his ideas of man controlling his own property and having the ability to profit from his own hard work is the fundamental principle of modern market based economies. Although Locke was influenced by God to declare this concept, it is still just as valid in modern secular economies.
Thus, Locke’s view of man has been influenced by his view of God. Since God had given the right to oneself, “God hath appointed government to restrain the partiality and violence of Men”(II, 13, 275-276). Even if God had not been the appointed of government, the idea that the violence of men needs to be restrained is still valid in any secular society, this is why Locke’s theses are still in practice today. Divine Law, the Imago Dei, is at the core of his philosophy and provides the basis for it but is not the overriding message in his argument. The central theme is the value of labor expressed through property rights. That is why Locke's ideas have stood the test of time, and are still valid today in a much more secular society, than they were in his own day.