THE END OF LAW

IS TO PRESERVE
AND ENLARGE
FREEDOM
JOHN LOCKE (1632–1704)
106 JOHN LOCKE

A
n important question in by a government is that they
IN CONTEXT political theory concerns expect the government to regulate
the role of government and disagreements and conflicts in
IDEOLOGY
the functions it should perform. a neutral manner. Following
Liberalism
Equally important is the question this logic, Locke was also able
FOCUS of what gives the government to describe the characteristics
The rule of law a right to govern, and where the of an illegitimate government.
boundaries of government authority It followed that a government that
BEFORE should be. Some medieval scholars did not respect and protect people’s
1642 A series of conflicts argued that kings had a right to natural rights—or unnecessarily
known as the English Civil rule that had been bestowed upon constrained their liberty—was not
War breaks out, due to them by God, while others legitimate. Locke was therefore
concerns that Charles I proclaimed that the nobility had opposed to absolutist rule. Unlike
would attempt to introduce a birthright to rule. Enlightenment his contemporary Thomas Hobbes,
absolutism in England. thinkers started to challenge these who believed that an absolute
doctrines. But if the power to rule sovereign was required to save
1661 Louis XIV begins his
was not to be granted by divine people from a brutal “state of
personal rule of France, and will or by birth, other sources of nature,” Locke maintained that
embodies absolutism in the legitimacy had to be found. the powers and functions of
phrase “L’état, c’est moi,” English philosopher John Locke government had to be limited.
saying that he is the state. was the first to articulate the liberal
AFTER principles of government: namely The centrality of laws
1689 The English Bill of that the purpose of government Much of Locke’s writing on political
Rights secures the rights of was to preserve its citizens’ rights philosophy centered on rights and
Parliament and elections free to freedom, life, and property, to laws. He defined political power
pursue the public good; and to as “a Right of making Laws with
of royal interference.
punish people who violated the Penalties of Death,” He contended
18th century Popular rights of others. Lawmaking was that one of the primary reasons
revolutions in France therefore the supreme function why people would voluntarily leave
and America lead to the of government. For Locke, one of the lawless state of nature was that
establishment of republics the main reasons people would no independent judges existed in
based on liberalist principles. be willing to enter into a social such a situation. It was preferable
contract and submit to being ruled to grant government a monopoly on

John Locke John Locke lived in—and foundation for the Glorious
shaped—one of the most Revolution of 1688, which
transformative centuries in transferred the balance
English history. A series of civil of power permanently from the
wars pitted Protestants, king to Parliament. He promoted
Anglicans, and Catholics against the idea that people are not born
each other, and power vacillated with innate ideas, but with a
between the king and the mind like a blank slate—a very
Parliament. Locke was born in modern way of viewing the self.
1632 close to Bristol, England. He
lived in exile in France and Key works
Holland for large periods of time
due to suspicions that he was 1689 Two Treatises of Government
involved in an assassination plot 1689 A Letter Concerning
against King Charles II. His book Toleration
Two Treatises of Government 1690 An Essay Concerning Human
provided the intellectual Understanding
 RATIONALITY AND ENLIGHTENMENT 107
See also: Thomas Hobbes 96–103 ■ Montesquieu 110–11 ■ Jean-Jacques Rousseau 118–25 ■ Thomas Jefferson 140–41 ■

Robert Nozick 326–27

Humans are rational, They join political society The end of law should
independent agents to be protected by be to preserve and
with natural rights. the rule of law. enlarge freedom.

violence and sentencing to ensure live in freedom is not to live without disputes in a neutral way. Locke
fair rule of law. Moreover, for Locke, laws in the state of nature. Locke writes that “men living according
a legitimate government upholds points out that “freedom is not, as to reason, without a common
the principle of separation of the we are told, liberty for every man superior on Earth to judge
legislative and executive powers. to do what he lists (for who could between them, is properly
The legislative power is superior be free when every other man’s the state of nature.”
to the executive—the former humor might domineer over him?), Unlike Hobbes, Locke does
has supreme power to establish but a liberty to dispose, and order not equate the state of nature with
general rules in the affairs of as he lists, his person, actions, war. A state of war is a situation
government, while the latter possessions, and his whole in which people do not uphold
is only responsible for enforcing property, within the allowance natural law, or the law of reason
the law in specific cases. of those laws.” In other words, as Locke calls it. Where Hobbes
One reason for the centrality laws can not only preserve, but would see human beings acting
of laws in Locke’s writings is that also enable liberty to be exercised. as “power maximizers,” mainly
laws protect liberty. The purpose of Without laws, our freedom would be concerned with self-preservation,
law is not to abolish or restrain, but limited by an anarchical, uncertain Locke finds that people can act
to preserve and enlarge freedom. state of nature, and in practice according to reason and with
In political society, Locke believes there may be no freedom at all. tolerance in the state of nature.
that “where there is no law there is Conflicts are therefore not
no freedom.” Laws, therefore, both Man’s initial condition necessarily common in a state
constrain and enable freedom. To Locke says that laws should be of nature. However, when ❯❯
designed—and enforced—with
man’s initial condition and nature
in mind. Like most social contract
theorists, he considers men to
be equal, free, and independent.
According to Locke, the state of
In all the states of created nature is a situation in which
beings capable of law, people coexist, often in relative
where there is no law, harmony, but there is no legitimate
there is no freedom. political power or judge to settle
John Locke
Opposed to absolutist rule, Locke
as a child had witnessed the execution
of King Charles I in 1649 for being “a
tyrant, traitor, murderer, and public
enemy to the good of this nation.”
108 JOHN LOCKE
The Role Of Government

Governments must craft …that protect the rights …and enforce them with
good laws… of the people… the public good in mind.

population density increases, the legitimate role of government, powerful figure would limit
resources become scarce, and based on an understanding of individual freedom unnecessarily.
the introduction of money leads the human state of nature. For Locke, total subordination
to economic inequality, conflicts Locke agrees with Hobbes that was dangerous. He wrote: “I have
increase, and human society a legitimate government is based reason to conclude that he who
begins to need laws, regulators, on a social contract between would get me into his power
and judges to settle disputes in individuals in a society. The without my consent would use
an objective manner. problem with the state of nature me as he pleased when he got me
is that there are no judges or police there, and destroy me too when he
The purpose of government to enforce the law. People are had a fancy to it; for nobody can
The question of legitimacy was willing to enter civil society in desire to have me in his absolute
at the heart of Locke’s political order for government to take up this power unless it be to compel me
thinking. Following the example role. This is, therefore, a legitimate by force to that which is against
of Hobbes, he sought to deduce role for government. Another the right of my freedom, i.e., make
important aspect of legitimate me a slave.”
government is rule by consent Rather, Locke favors a limited
of the people. For Locke, this did role for government. Government
not have to mean democracy—a should protect people’s private
majority of people could reasonably property, keep the peace, secure
decide that a monarch, aristocracy, public commodities for the whole
or a democratic assembly should people, and as far as possible,
rule. The important point was protect citizens against foreign
that the people granted the right invasions. For Locke, “This is the
to rule, and were entitled to take original, this is the use, and these
back this privilege. are the bounds of the legislative
Locke argued against a strong, (which is the supreme) power
absolutist sovereign—as advocated in every commonwealth.” The
by Thomas Hobbes—since such a purpose of government is to
do what is missing in the state
of nature to ensure people’s
The English Bill of Rights, ratified
by King William III in 1689, established freedom and prosperity. There is
limits on the king’s power, conforming no need to enslave people under
with Locke’s contention that a monarch absolute rule. The primary function
only rules by the consent of the people. of government is to craft good laws
 RATIONALITY AND ENLIGHTENMENT 109
to protect people’s rights, and France and North America near
to enforce those laws with the the end of the 18th century were
public good in mind. founded on liberal ideas. In fact,
Thomas Jefferson, one of the
The right to revolt architects of the American
Locke’s distinction between Constitution and the Declaration A Bill of Rights is
legitimate and illegitimate of Independence, revered Locke,
what the people are
governments also carries with and used many of his phrases in
it the idea that opposition to the founding documents. The
entitled to against every
illegitimate rule is acceptable. emphasis on protection of “life,
government, and what no
Locke describes a range of liberty, or property” found in the just government should refuse,
scenarios in which people would Bill of Rights in the Constitution, or rest on inference.
have a right to revolt in order to and the inalienable rights to Thomas Jefferson
take back the power they had “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit
given the government. For example, of Happiness” in the Declaration
people can legitimately rebel if: can all be traced directly back
elected representatives of the to John Locke’s philosophy a
people are prevented from century earlier. ■
assembly; foreign powers are
bestowed with authority over
people; the election system or
procedures are changed without
public consent; the rule of law is
not upheld; or the government
seeks to deprive people of their
rights. Locke regarded illegitimate
rule as tantamount to slavery.
He even went as far as to condone
regicide—the execution of a
monarch—in circumstances where
the monarch has broken the social
contract with his people. As the
son of Puritans who had supported
the Parliamentarian cause in the
English Civil War, this was no
mere theoretical concern—Locke’s
writing gives a clear justification
for the execution of Charles I.

Locke’s legacy
The political philosophy of John
Locke has, since his time, become
known as “liberalism”—the belief
in the principles of liberty and
equality. The revolutions in

For a government to be legitimate,