1. How does Locke’s ‘state of nature’ differ from Hobbes? Does it suggest a different view of human nature? Or just a different way of thinking about government?
2. Locke makes the legislative power the primary source of authority, in contrast to Hobbes’ conception of ‘the sovereign’. Why should that be important for a liberal ideal?
3. Locke is heralded as the great advocate of equality among men. And yet he justified inequality of property. How does one reconcile these?
4. Locke is one of the main ‘social contract’ theorists, a main support for thinking about limits on government power. Is the contract a real, negotiated agreement? If not, why should a fictive ‘contract’ be thought of as a central idea of human and civil rights?
5. When the leaders of the American Revolution later changed Locke’s identification of ‘life, liberty and property’ to ‘life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness’, were they distorting Locke’s meaning?
Application: How wold Locke help you to arrive at a judgment about the raise in the minimum wage?
Application: How wold Locke help you to arrive at a judgment about the raise in the minimum wage?
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