John Locke

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that John Locke (1632-1704), English philosopher and social scientist, founded the school of empiricism and applied empirical analysis to ethics, politics and religion, was the guiding light for the founding fathers of the United States during the American Revolution; and his thoughts on politics and government are incorporated in the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution. The author points out that, in the present day, post-socialist world, Locke's liberalism is more relevant than ever since there is once again a danger in Western societies to move in a direction in which social justice and compassion for the weak, civil liberty and the rights of minorities are being put on the back-burner. The paper relates that Locke's views about politics and the government are still relevant and have stood the test of time three hundred years after his death when several other political theories such as Socialism have fallen by the wayside because of the balance of his ideas.

Table of Contents
Political Theories
Political Liberalism: Refutation of Hobbes
Natural Rights
Social Contract
Nature of Government: Separation of Powers
Views on Tax by the Government
The Right to Revolt
Agreeing with John Locke

From the Paper:

"His theory about the establishment of government appeared at a time in Western history when a transition from the standard monarchial form of government to a more representative form of government was taking place. It was a crucial period. If John Locke's liberal ideas about the sovereignty of the people and their right to place their trust in a government for advancing their interests through a 'social contract' (and their right to change it if the trust was breached) had not been put across with the force of empirical logic, there was every chance that authoritarianism would have become the norm in Western societies. In the seventeenth century Europe, it was only John Locke's genius that managed to stop the formidable political philosophy of Thomas Hobbes in its tracks: the philosophy that advocated absolutism and concentration of power, albeit in a group of people (the legislature) rather than in an individual-- the monarch."

More papers on John Locke:

• Research Paper # 96952 : "John Locke"
• Essay # 138022 : "John Locke: Social Contracts and Metaphysical Truth"
• Analytical Essay # 130257 : "John Locke and the Declaration of Independence"
• Analytical Essay # 134721 : "John Locke's Influence"

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