The Philosophy of John Locke

Locke’s focus was on “life, liberty, and property,” which I would, and many others would, say Thomas Jefferson plagiarized in his saying “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Locke had a huge influence on American ideology following the revolutionary war. His beliefs were pivotal in the forming of the United States government after the colonies had broken off from the monarchical British rule, but who was John Locke and what made him so influential? 

Locke was a philosopher, much like Thomas Hobbes, who had major influences on politics. John Locke was born on August 29th, 1632. He was an Englishman who is known for his philosophy of the tabula rasa, and the “natural rights” of man. Locke’s belief in the tabula rasa, or blank slate, was the matter that human beings were born without any innate concepts. That there are no natural behaviors, and everything we do is learned. Locke’s belief in the blank slate defined him as an empiricist, though Locke was willing to believe that anything that could be disproved would be incorrect. Locke even stated that “whatever I write, as soon as I discover it not to be true, my hand shall be the forwardest to throw it into the fire.” This shows us how Locke was not so set in his beliefs that he would ignore the facts. 

Though Locke and Hobbes’ were both philosophers with heavy influence on the political world, the two of them didn’t agree on their views of government. Locke spoke passionately on what we would recognize as “unalienable rights.” He believed that God had given the world “to men in common,” meaning that God had given the world to Adam, and all his descendants shared that land. That would mean in his day, all men (which were all descendants of Adam) would have equal share to land. This was Locke’s belief on the basic principles of land. However, property was a different story. I believe that in Locke’s Second Treatise of Government, he made a significant distinguishment between what land was, and what property was. Land, in itself, was to be owned by the commonwealth of people. Whereas property was the product of one’s own labor. Locke believed every man was entitled his labor and to the product of his labor, whether it was land, a crop, or anything else. By working on a piece of land, farming on it, a man would mix his labor into the soil of that land. Since man owned his labor, and the soil was now mixed with his labor, the land would now become his property. 

Locke was the optimistic counterpart to Hobbes. Both men had firm beliefs in the philosophy of politics. Locke believed that everyone was entitled to life and liberty. That no individual may infringe upon another life or liberty. This is a stark contrast to Hobbes’ social contract theory, in which, without the ruling of a “leviathan” government, people would be inherently evil. Locke saw this state of nature in a different light, however. Locke thought that people weren’t inherently bad in nature, and that, without rule, one man would respect another man’s right to life, liberty, and property. This was directly opposed to the theory Hobbes’ had presented, that all men were evil; Hobbes’ thought that it was necessary to prevent this evil, and to do so, the people must sacrifice their absolute, individual freedom for a more restricted freedom that would prevent any one person from harming another. 

Quiz Questions 

1) What writing of John Locke’s was the focus of this presentation? 

2) What is the distinction between land and property? 

3) Who did God give the world to, according to Locke? 

4) Who, among the U.S. government’s founding fathers, showed the most prominent influence by John Locke? 

Discussion Questions 

1) Do you side more with Hobbes’ beliefs on man in the state of nature, or Locke’s? 

2) Do you think we are born with a “blank slate?”