Locke's Second Treatise of Government Research Proposal

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In addition, other just men may join in the attempt to destroy the unjust, while those on the unjust side -- who will not think of themselves as unjust and therefore will see that they have every right to defend themselves -- will then attempt to destroy their destroyers, as under the law of nature they have the right to defend themselves from destruction. Thus, men on both sides of the issue will feel as though they are acting righteously according to the law of nature in attempting to destroy everyone on the other side of the issue, because "when all cannot be preserved, the safety of the innocent is to be preferred," and both sides will consider themselves to be the innocents that were wronged by the other side (Locke, 14). This state is what Locke means by the "state of war," and is one of the reasons governments exist, he claims.

When there isn't someone who has been invested with the power to determine when justice has been served, Locke claims that the state of war continues forever. At the end of his chapter on the state of war, Locke determines that "to avoid this state of war...is one great reason of men's putting themselves into society, and quitting the state of nature" (Locke, 16). The reasons for establishing government do not stop there, however. In the very next chapter, Locke addresses the issue of slavery, first by defining exactly what sort of freedom exists once man has decided to leave the state of nature: "freedom of men under government is, to have a standing rule to live by, common to every one of that society.

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..and not to be subject to the inconstant, uncertain, unknown, arbitrary will of another man" (Locke, 17). Societies and governments exists, Locke contends, to extend the greatest amount of freedom to the greatest number of people. The law of nature can only be upheld by force, which really means that the law is useless; whoever is strongest, or can convince the most people to join his side, will end up being the one who decides the rules. When men decide to give up this total freedom of nature and form societies, it is to protect themselves from each other and from outsiders with established rules of conduct that are not to breached, and enumerated consequences for breaching them.

The final major reason Locke gives for the creation of political societies and governments is the protection of property, which must be maintained because of its scarcity. The reasoning can also be seen to flow from Locke's previous arguments, however; under the law of nature, the mighty could take whatever property they wanted, be it food, clothing, or a home, from the weak.….....

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