POLI 231 Lecture Notes - Noel Pemberton Billing, Limited Government, Justification For The State
31 Mar 2013
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Document Summary
Before society, there was the state of nature. Locke believes there is no natural form of political rule- in the state of nature there are no formal politics, so all political society must be artificial. The state of nature is marked by 2 factors: humans are free to act as we see fit to preserve ourselves, we are equal (no natural authority) Locke says that political rule requires consent to be legitimate. In the state of nature, there is freedom, but the enjoyment of it and our property is insecure (note: property encompasses life, liberty, and estate) 3 additional features of the state of nature: no common law which is manmade, no impartial judge to judicate disputes, no common executive. The state of nature does, however, have a human community, with a natural law which governs everyone. Everyone knows intuitively what these natural laws are- they exist independently of anyone agreeing to them.
