Table of Contents
What did Locke believe about monarchy?
Locke’s primary aim in the Second Treatise is to show that absolute monarchy is an illegitimate form of government, lacking the right to coerce people to obey it.
How did Locke’s view of natural rights influence the government?
In his Second Treatise of Government, Locke identified the basis of a legitimate government. According to Locke, a ruler gains authority through the consent of the governed. The duty of that government is to protect the natural rights of the people, which Locke believed to include life, liberty, and property.
Was Locke for or against a monarchy?
His opinion on this conflicted with that of Thomas Hobbes, another social contract adherent. It is in his work on the Second Treatise of Government that John Locke opposed the notion of an absolute monarchy.
What did John Locke argue about natural rights?
Among these fundamental natural rights, Locke said, are “life, liberty, and property.” Locke believed that the most basic human law of nature is the preservation of mankind. To serve that purpose, he reasoned, individuals have both a right and a duty to preserve their own lives.
What kind of government did John Locke want?
Locke favored a representative government such as the English Parliament, which had a hereditary House of Lords and an elected House of Commons. But he wanted representatives to be only men of property and business.
What did John Locke believe about the rights of the people?
People, Locke believed, have rights to life, liberty and property that governments should not deny. The common people, Locke asserted, have the right to overthrow established governments if their basic natural rights do not receive protection.
What did John Locke think about the social contract?
Hobbes himself defined the idea of the social contract as “the mutual transfer of right” to achieve security and safety. John Locke did not believe that human nature is as cruel as Hobbes believed. He was optimistic about human nature.
Why did John Locke write the Second Treatise of government?
The common people, Locke asserted, have the right to overthrow established governments if their basic natural rights do not receive protection. Locke proposed in the “Second Treatise of Government” that transparency in government and a central democratic system, which allows for interaction between officials and the public, are keys to success.
How did Louis XIV differ from John Locke?
Unlike John Locke, he believed that the people shouldn’t overthrow the government. He disagreed with the Enlightenment’s ideas, and with John Locke. He supported Louis XIV’s way of ruling. He thought Divine right was the best, like an Absolute Monarch.