Locke and Mills Philosophy

Political Philosophy and the US Constitution : Influences of Locke and Mill

The US Constitution offers an arrangement of the American governmental system . Interestingly , it was influenced by political philosophers whose works too had inspired people across the globe especially on the values of democracy . This essay is devoted on providing an account of how two men inspired the framers of our constitution namely , John Locke and John Stuart Mill

John Locke was one of the great political philosophers who would defend the existence of a government in our society . It is

quite interesting how intellectuals like him begin the journey toward a parsimonious theory by looking deeply into the state of nature . Locke 's state of nature is one where humans have freedom . His was an optimistic view of how men , being equal amongst them establish in the law of nature which is governed by reason . This reason guides men to avoid doing harm on anyone else 's liberty , health , life and possessions . Yet , men give up their state of nature to preserve their lives , liberties and estates or what he called- property . Property is created by labor . The human effort mixed with natural resources is the criterion that justifies private property . Man 's desire to avoid the disadvantages of the state of nature given the scarcity of resources threatening life and freedom or his state of war ' is the root of man 's will to form a society and eventually a government , which is established not by a...