John Locke

1632-1704, “father of liberal philosophy”
- central figure in classical liberalism
Wrote Two Treatises of Government (1690)

Rejected traditional/medieval principle that the state was part of God’s creation
Rejected ‘divine right of kings’
Rejected notion that ordinary people were ‘subjects’ of the state and had a quasi-religious obligation to obey the monarch
Argued a ‘legitimate’ state would be one created by mankind to serve mankind’s interests
- Only would arise from the consent of those it governs
Individual consent is the mechanism by which political societies are created and individuals join them
One can only become a full member of society by an act of express consent

criticism: “few people have explicitly consented to their governments, so no governments are legitimate”
Locke introduces tacit consent - nonverbal consent indicated by participation in an activity
e.g.: children inheriting property under the dominion of a commonwealth give tacit consent to the jursidiction of the commonwealth over the property by accepting such property

State of nature

Prior to the state’s existence there was a ‘natural’ society which served mankind’s interests reasonably well
Locke’s state of nature differs from Thomas Hobbes’s ‘nasty and brutish’ state of nature
A notion of life before the emergence of a state and used by Locke/Hobbes to justify why new states they proposed were improvements upon the state of nature

Under the state of nature, mankind is born equal
Certain moral truths that applied to all people
- Rights to life, liberty, property
Distinct from divine law: discovered by reason alone vs discovered only through God’s special revelation
- Locke concludes that not all of 10 commandments are binding on all people
- 10 commandments begins “Hear O Israel”, thus are only binding on people to whom they are addressed
Divine law and natural law are consistent and can overlap in content