HIS109Y1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Luddite, William Godwin, Utopian Socialism
Document Summary
We have to turn to john locke, the spiritual father of enlightenment perspective. With the definition of newton"s law of physics and the laws that determine the operation of the universe, the world came to see as the theatre of two different kinds of laws. Those that govern the universe, the natural law, the correct and immutable laws that determine why the planets move and so on, and on the other hand, positive or human law, enacted by kings and parliaments. How the law works one can be changed, the other cannot be changed, but only interpreted. Rousseau specifically attached john locke"s assertion that private property was a natural right of humanity. For rousseau, so much of the misery of society, the unhappiness of mankind resulted from that very possession of private property. All legal codes and prescriptive moralities are from those who own property to those who have none. In a state of nature, there is no property.
