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John Locke On The Limits of Liberty & Property

John Locke's understanding of the limits of liberty and of property in the ideal political system is reasonable, as long as Locke keeps that understanding in the world of idealistic theories and does not try to apply it to the far more harsh world of real human beings in real societies.

Locke's understanding of the limits of property focus on the limited needs of the individual and his family, and his understanding of the limits of liberty focus on allowing the individual the same essential liberty he enjoyed in the state of nature, reduced slightly by laws which, in return, guarantee the safety and security of each individual and his property.

The limits of liberty in Locke's understanding are defined by the rights of every individual and the protection of those rights in both the state of nature and in a civil society. The individual is free to do what he will as long as he doesn't do damage to another person's life or property. This complete liberty springs from Locke's understanding of the state of nature:

To understand political power right, and derive it from its original, we must consider what state men are naturally in, and that is, a state of perfect freedom to order their actions and dispose of their possessions and persons, as they think fit, within the bounds of the law of nature (339-340).

The "law of nature" is accessible to all men, even in the state of nature, through the use of their reason, which informs them of this "perfect freedom," which yet has its limits despite its perfection:

But though this be a state of liberty, yet it is not a state of license. . . . The state of nature has a law of nature to govern it, which obliges every one: and reason, which is that law, teaches all mankind, who will but consult it, that being all equal and independent, no one ought to harm another in his life, health, liberty, or possessions, for men . . . are all the servants of one sovereign Master (341).

Thus...

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John Locke On The Limits of Liberty & Property. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 09:55, December 22, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1689409.html