John Locke, Second Treatise (1689)
Posted: Mon, Feb 9, 2026
Today
- Game time! (30 min)
- Hobbes vs. Locke (for as long as we have)
Locke’s critique of Hobbes
The state of nature is a moral situation. [Johannes, Sitong]
- The state of nature is governed by moral law, which can be discovered by reason.
- The state of nature is not automatically ended by the installment of a common power (e.g., an absolute monarch) if this fails to transform the moral relations between persons in the right kind of way.
| Hobbes | Locke | |
|---|---|---|
| State of nature | War of every man against every man | Not a state of war |
| Laws of nature | Prudence | Morality |
| Absolute monarchy | Better than SoN | Worse than SoN |
| Natural equality | ~Equal capacity to harm | ~Equal dignity/intrinsic moral worth |
| Natural right to property | Huh? | Labor-mixing theory [Sally, Eduardo] |
Locke’s property: life, liberty, and estate.
Three (serious but not as pressing) inconveniences of the state of nature (§§ 124–26).
- Locke thinks that legislature power is supreme.
Limits on government:
- Natural rights (§ 135)
- Rule of law (§ 136)
- Nonconsensual takings of property (§ 138)
- Nontransferability of legislative power (§ 141)
Locke on slavery (chap. 4) and colonialism (e.g., § 41).