Political theories have been collected throughout history, and often shine light and cause debate surrounding the positions of common socio-political themes and topics. When studying political theory, it is important to recognize the philosopher behind the written work, and comprehend why they reflect the political beliefs that they do. This paper will compare and contrast two of the most noted and influential political thinkers and their understanding of private property. The first theory is found within the work of English philosopher John Locke. Locke strongly supported the concept of private property, and believed that the only reason society falls upon armed conflict and warfare is because of a general lack of the essential ingredients of an individual or a community’s self-preservation. Those ingredients, according to the Second Treatise of Government include the right to private property, which is grounded in the exercise of the virtues of rationality and industry; the powers of government must be separated because virtue is always in short comings, but prerogative, which depends on virtue in judgment, it must be retained by the executive because of the necessary imperfections of the rule of law; and, the right of resistance to illegitimate government presupposes the exercise of restraint and rational judgment by the people. He believed that private property is a natural right, and one of the most significant ones at that. Which is why one of Locke's most famous quotes is that all men have the right to "life, liberty and property." As he continues to discuss his theories of property in his Second Treatise of Government, Locke shares that God gave man the earth to share in common, but when a man adds his labor to the ... ... middle of paper ... ... with one another, and contrast pros and cons on behalf of both sides. John Locke represented both democratic and monarchial ideologies, which Karl Marx strongly defended a communist approach to the concept of private property. Overall both Karl Marx and John Locke represent very opposite, unique, and influential theories of political philosophy. Their understandings of property reflect their political philosophies quite eloquently and because of that they are two of the most recognized political philosophers in modern history. Thus, concluding the contrast and comparison of their work regarding private property and politics. Bibliography Marx, Karl. Selected Writings (1994) Hackett Publishing Company, Inc. Indianapolis, Indiana. Locke, John. Second Treatise of Government (1980) Hackett Publishing Company, Inc. Indianapolis, Indiana.
John Locke, one of the leading philosophers of the European Enlightenment was very important when it came to political thought in the United States. His ideas of the reasons, nature, and limits of the government became especially important in the development of the Constitution. In one of his most famous writings of that time, Two Treatises on Government (1689), Locke established a theory where personal liberty could coexist with political power ; meaning that the people would agree to obey the government and in return, the government would have the responsibility of respecting the people’s natural rights. In other words, he laid out a social contract theory that provided the philosophy and source of a governing author...
According to John Locke, men were "promiscuously born to all the same advantages of nature and the use of the same faculties; they should also be equal one amongst another without subordination or subjection." (Second Treatise of Government, p8). The basic principle teaching is that God has given the earth to humankind in common, to the posterity of men so that they will have enough to subsist and flourish. Everything in its natural state is provided to commonwealth for "the support and comfort of their being." (John Locke, Second Treatise of Government, p 18). So no one originally can have the right to posses that public property. However, history has proven that every man still has the right to own, to enrich and protect his property; how can that "private dominion" come into being?
John Locke is a seventeenth century philosopher who believed that government should be based around the people rather than the power of one person. Equality and property were two factors that Locke considered to be the key to a great society. Locke begins his writings with a discussion on individual property and how each man body is his own property. This leads Locke into the argument that man can obtain property only by using his own labor. an example Locke gives is the picking of an apple. The apple is the property of the man who used his labor to pick it. He goes on to say “A person may only acquire as many things in this way as he or she can reasonably use to their advantage”. With the discussion of property Locke leads into the discussion of trade and monetary value stating that it is natural of man to w...
John Locke is considered one of the best political minds of his time. The modern conception of western democracy and government can be attributed to his writing the Second Treatise of Government. John Locke championed many political notions that both liberals and conservatives hold close to their ideologies. He argues that political power should not be concentrated to one specific branch, and that there should be multiple branches in government. In addition to, the need for the government to run by the majority of the population through choosing leaders, at a time where the popular thing was to be under the rule of a monarch. But despite all of his political idea, one thing was extremely evident in his writing. This was that he preferred limited
At the core of their theories, both Locke and Rousseau seek to explain the origin of civil society, and from there to critique it, and similarly both theorists begin with conceptions of a state of nature: a human existence predating civil society in which the individual does not find institutions or laws to guide or control one’s behaviour. Although both theorists begin with a state of nature, they do not both begin with the same one. The Lockean state of nature is populated by individuals with fully developed capacities for reason. Further, these individuals possess perfect freedom and equality, which Locke intends as granted by God. They go about their business rationally, acquiring possessions and appropriating property, but they soon realize the vulnerability of their person and property without any codified means to ensure their security...
The Enlightenment was characterized by the emergence of philosophes who advocated for critical thinking and reasoning. Marx shared some common things and even was influenced by Enlightenment thinkers. Works of Rousseau, John Lock and Hegel were believed to be inspiration to Marx. In his book Das Kapital (Capital), Karl Marx adopted the idea of Jock Locke that human existence is directly related to requirement to fulfill basic needs( Hunt ,718). Marx believed the most important thing that distinguishes human beings from other creatures is that humans produce their means of subsistence. Despite the fact that Rousseau and Marx differed in the idea of Government and state, both attacked private property. According to Marx, it is the existence
...believed it kept many in bonds or slavery. While Jean-Jacques Rousseau believed that freedom was attained by entering into a social contract with limits established by good will and community participation. Both theories would put restraints on personal property and capital creating ownership relinquished to the state. He believed that laws to protect citizens could not keep up with the changing economic environment. One could conclude that Marx and Rousseau’s theories were relatively close in the role that it plays between citizens and personal property ownership.
...e created equal and will act as a civil society with a limited government that will allow order. Marx who believes that people are consciously good and will do the right thing to make society equal for everyone and will abolish social classes in order to prevent exploitation to the working classes around the world. Lastly, Machiavelli believes in the opposite and that people are selfish and will act in accordance to their best interest, and as a result reaches the conclusion that men are better off ruled by a prince who inflicts fear in them rather than love since he believes too much trust cannot be put into the people. As for each individual, for every example given as a piece of evidence, it is clear that Locke represents a form of civil government, Marx suggests the formation of communism, and Machiavelli believes one sole ruler will keep order in his society.
What John Locke was concerned about was the lack of limitations on the sovereign authority. During Locke’s time the world was surrounded by the monarch’s constitutional violations of liberty toward the end of the seventeenth century. He believed that people in their natural state enjoy certain natural, inalienable rights, particularly those to life, liberty and property. Locke described a kind of social contract whereby any number of people, who are able to abide by the majority rule, unanimously unite to affect their common purposes. The...
For individual property to exist, there must be a means for individuals to appropriate the things around them. Locke starts out with the idea of the property of person; each person owns his or her own body, and all the labor that they perform with the body. When an individual adds their own labor, their own property, to a foreign object or good, that object becomes their own because they have added their labor. This appropriation of goods does not demand the consent of humankind in general, each person has license to appropriate things in this way by individual initiative.
Locke begins his argument by describing a type of property against which no other individual could possibly have claim in a world of political equality, which is the property that each individual have in his “own person”. Locke strongly believe of the idea of one having a property in oneself. Locke came up with the idea of self-ownership when he used it to explain how each man has a right to possess objects outside of one's self, on What is Property he states that,“This no body has any right to but himself. The labour of his body, and the work of his hands, we may say, are properly his. Everyman has a property in his own Person. Whatsoever then he removes out of the state that nature hath provided, and left it in, he hath mixed his labour with, and joyned to it something that is his own, and thereby makes it his property. It being by him removed from the common state nature placed it in, it hath by this labour something annexed to it, that excludes the common right of other men”.(Locke, pg 254) This shows that that property is formed of a man’s life and his possessions, and so God provided for mankind all the same to have/own
First, Locke believes that everyone has the opportunity to cultivate the land that they own, which ideally is a proportionate share of the surrounding environment, and nothing more (Locke, Sec. 36). Locke’s theory of property is not just relative to physical entities, it can be an intellectual entity as well. An individual may have certain experiences and knowledge, develop theories and come to their own conclusions. Publishing said works are seen as property in the eyes of Locke as well. Another strength would be the logic of Locke’s argument, if you input your labour, that commodity becomes your own. Truth of this can be seen in section 33 of Locke’s Second Treatise of Civil Government, when Locke suggests that labour increases the value of land exponentially because when people own land themselves, they are more likely to increase the productivity of that land. According to Locke, the true value of land does not stem from the land, rather the labour invested in it. Locke’s theory however, does not take into account the processes in which someone becomes an owner. One of the main stances Locke outlines in his theory of property is that he equates property to being a natural right. Locke deems the right to private property to be equally important as life and liberty, however they cannot be
... in a way that lead to inequality. Marx similarly argues that private property has led to inequality, because it has put the means of production into the hands of the bourgeoisie, thereby subjugating the proletariat. Even though both men resided in different centuries, their theories are similar because they perceived the singular issue of inequality. As theorists they did differ on where equality would lie; Rousseau believed that man had lost equality as he evolved out of the natural state, whereas Marx believed equality had yet to be realized.
“It’s really clear that the most effective way to turn a nonviolent person into a violent one is to send them to prison,” says Harvard University criminologist James Gilligan. The American prison system takes nonviolent offenders and makes them live side-by-side with hardened killers. The very nature of prison, no matter people view it, produces an environment that is inevitably harmful to its residents.
Tuckness, Alex, "Locke's Political Philosophy", The Stanford Encyclopedia of (Winter 2012 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), Web. 07 May 2014 URL = http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2012/entries/locke-political/