john locke

John Locke was probably one of the most influential thinkers and philosophers of the late 1600’s. John Locke’s views about government and politics are expressed in his Second Treatise of Government written in 1690. Locke advocates God-given rights for all human beings and that government is established to protect these individual rights. He argues that government exists by the consent of the governed. Locke also talks about the individual rights to property given by God for the use of the people. He discusses the possibility of tyranny in the government as well. Throughout his Second Treatise of Government, Locke’s view is that sovereignty rests with the people and not with the government.
In chapters one through three of his Second Treatise of Government, Locke explains how God gave all human beings individual rights. He says the power resides with the people and not with the government or a monarchy. Locke says “…yet the knowledge if which is the eldest line of Adam’s...