MicroGroks
Most people today have little to no familiarity with any of the principles that influenced the founders. Below, you’ll find six important resources hand-picked by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. You can also find links to each in this podcast episode – “The Founders’ Education.”
Locke begins by defining the three fundamental forms of government. When men first unite into a society, they have all the power of the community naturally in themselves.
Having set out what constitutes a civil society and how civil societies are formed, Locke sets about discussing what why would any man in a state of nature join a civil society, and what is the purpose of end of that civil society. He reminds us that in a state of nature every man has …
Further treating the idea of consent, he describes consent. A child of an English man and woman born in France is subject to neither the king of England nor the king of France, except as much as they subject to the law of the land.
We see this delegation and retention of power in Exodus 22. In general, the adjudication of theft is left to society. The theft is brought before the judges to determine guilt and the amount that must be repaid. However, it begins in Exodus 22:2 with the principle that there is no guilt in killing someone …
John Locke having defined what qualifies as a civil society in Chapter Seven. That it is not merely family groups, or master-slave relationships, but is a coming together of equals for mutual benefit and protection. He opened with this declaration which ought to be familiar to the people of New Hampshire.
We have almost completely lost the understanding of the purpose of government. Republicans and Democrats alike, fight over policy, but who is right? We have plenty of sources we can look to to find our path to prosperity. And I don’t just mean financially, but morally & spiritually.
Locke’s second Chapter is on the concept state of nature. Locke then states that having defined political power, one must understand the it from the original from which it is derived. That is the ideal state of nature. Locke’s ideal state of nature is important because it is his baseline, that reference point against which …
So now we begin on Locke’s Second Treatise, the positive description of the nature of government. Locke’s Second Treatise consists of 19 Chapters, each titled “Of … ” Locke has been accused even by his adherents of forsaking scripture, I disagree. In fact, he is the first modern political theorist to rely exclusively on scripture …
An Essay Concerning the True Original, Extent and End of Civil Government Read More »
At the outset, I defined this effort as a discussion of John Locke’s Second Treatise of Government. Of course, as the name suggests, there is also a First Treatise of Government which I had not as yet read. Therefore, I set to reading Locke’s First Treatise to find out what its relationship is to the …
