John Locke Research Paper

Per the Political Philosophy by Steven Cahn, one could easily argue that Marxist ideas may have come to exist with the assistance of John Locke's earlier theories of government. John Locke and Karl Marx are two of the most noted and influential modern political thinkers. John Locke was a deeply political and intelligent English philosopher who had survived intense religious and political conflicts. His legacy was immortalized in the phrase "men have a right to life, liberty, and property." On the other hand, Karl Marx was a German political thinker who was famous for his theories regarding economic class. These two thinkers had many conflicting ideas and philosophies. However, without Locke's initial conception of government and his assertion …show more content…
Secondly, he believed in a state of equality, "wherein all the power and jurisdiction is reciprocal, no one having more than another..." (Second Treatise of Government, p365) A state, or government of equality, regarding labor and social classes is an issue that is deeply embedded in both Lockean and Marxist theories. Furthermore, Locke also believed that a government must be committed to protecting its citizens' natural rights of life, liberty, and property. The citizens that participated in Locke's form of government had the right to revolt if the government was not meeting their needs. Karl Marx seems to agree with these ideas aside from Locke's faith in the "good" of …show more content…
At first glance, they appear to have exceedingly divergent views on private property. John Locke describes and encourages man's natural right to property in his "Second Treatise of Government." According to Locke, "Though the earth and all inferior creatures, be common to all men, yet every man has a property in his own person: this nobody has any right to but himself. The labour of his body and the work of his hands, we may say, are properly his. Whatsoever then he removes out of the state that nature has provided, and left it in, he has mixed his labour with, and joined to it something that is his own, and thereby makes it his property." (p371) In other words, Locke maintains that man has a right to the fruits of his labor. To him, ownership of property is fundamental to a society's development and one of the few issues government should concern itself with. With good faith, Locke felt that the government would hopefully provide more equity in terms of labor expended and reward for its

Show More