John Locke's Theory Of Natural Law

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The modern scientific method which developed in the 16th and 17th centuries affected differ topics of thought. It was believed that all people has the capacity to be rational thinkers, to use observation and logic when trying to understand the world around them. This process was not limited to the natural world but was also applied to political theory. Reason became the way to find Natural Law.
Natural Law is the idea that there is a law and concept of right and wrong that exists within the world separate from tradition and the state. For some thinkers such as John Locke this was considered the law of god, for others the natural law exists independent from a deity and would exist even if a god didn’t. Natural law was different in that it was independent from people, their power and their desires. Even kings were subject to …show more content…

He drew this conclusion from his ideas on the inherent qualities of human nature. In a world without a state or government, “a state of nature”, people would be self-interested and looking for power, and fearful that others would take their power from them. This fear, Hobbs said, would lead to constant war or the readiness for war meaning that in the state of nature life would be “solitary poor, nasty, brutish, and short.” In order to be protected and to escape the state of nature every person would need to give up their right of self-government. In Leviathan, Hobbs outlines 3 different forms of government Monarchy: rule by one person, Aristocracy: rule by an assembly open only to the elite, Democracy: rule by an assembly open to all. Of the 3 Hobbs favoured monarchy as he believed it would be less susceptible to ambition and corruption, and could make decisions without disagreement or

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