The Big Idea
This text argues that political power is not a divine inheritance passed down from a prehistoric monarch. Instead, all humans start in a state of perfect equality and freedom. Because individual safety and property are perpetually insecure in this lawless state, people choose to enter a contract with others to form a stable commonwealth. This agreement creates a legislative body meant only to protect the public good. If those who hold power start acting like owners of the people rather than trustees of the public, the social contract is void. At that point, the community has the inherent right to dissolve the government and appoint new authorities.
Who's named
- John Locke
Writer arguing that political authority stems from collective human consent
- Sir Robert Filmer
Opponent who incorrectly claimed monarchs held divine, absolute authority
- God
The original source of natural law and human equality
- Commonwealth
A society formed by mutual consent to preserve private property
What it's really about
- Natural Liberty
- Freedom from arbitrary rule by any other human
- Property
- The collective term for lives, liberties, and estates
Why it's memorable
- A man in a state of nature being his own judge, jury, and executioner.
- The warning that power corrupts those who make laws and execute them simultaneously.
What it concludes
Once people delegate authority to a legislative body, they can only reclaim their power if the governing trust is explicitly broken by administrative failure.
For your book club
- Is political authority ever truly permanent or absolute?
- How does the definition of property extend beyond material objects?