Two Treatises of Government

Limitations to Government , State of Nature and Social Contract in Two Treatises of Government by John Locke

Two Treatises of Government , or in full name Two Treatises of Government : In the Former , The False Principles and Foundation of Sir Robert Filmer , And His Followers , are Detected and Overthrown . The Latter is an Essay concerning The True Original , Extent , and End of Civil-Government is a work on political philosophy , composed by a prominent British philosopher John Locke and published in 1689 . In it Locke strongly criticizes the idea of mighty government and it

's overall control over people 's life . In this respect he strongly opposed the ideas of his coeval John Hobbes with his Leviathan state . This aims to investigate some of the major ideas of Locke , using the named treatise as example

In the first Treatise Locke attacks on Sir Robert Filmer 's book Patriarcha . He groups his arguments against Filmer 's ideas into two lines . Firstly he attempts to ruin the basic concept of Filmer and secondly he demonstrates the probable consequences of Filmer 's proposals . Filmer 's basic foundation is that kings have a divine right to rule their subjects . The Biblical Adam was the first earthly ruler because he was a father of humanity , so kings are followers of Adam - they are fathers of the nation and the nation is to lowly obey them as if they were a great family , obeying to its father . This was rather actual for England , because motto of its kings sounded as God and My Right ' and they needed foundations for royal power after its restoration in 1660 . Locke rejects this argument in a rather curious and ironic manner : I think he is the first Politician , who , pretending to settle Government upon its true Basis , and to establish the Thrones of lawful Princes , ever told the World , That he was properly a King , whose Manner of Government was by Supreme Power , by what Means soever he obtained it which in plain English is to say , that Regal and Supreme Power is properly and truly his , who can by any Means seize upon it and if this be , to be properly a King , I wonder how he came to think of , or where he will find , an Usurper (Locke , 1st Tr , 79 . And indeed even if first kings did originate from Adam , those kings have been replaced by others for so many times , that it is impossible to speak of their origin from Adam , and no king has ever claimed his power to be given by Adam at least because all people are heirs of Adam

In the Second Treatise Locke develops his own idea of original state of nature . This was quite usual for XVII century England and became a point of interest for many thinkers . Locke believes , that natural state is in no way a state of anarchy , because in the natural state when there are no rulers to tell people what to do and no subjects...