We The People: Lesson One

What Would Life Be Like in a State of Nature?

Terms to know:

Civil rights-fundamental rights belonging to every member of society

Consent- agreement or acquiescence

Human nature- traits of personality and character that all human beings share

Law of nature- would prevail in the absence of man-made law, and contains universally obligatory standards of justice

Legitimate- government in which people have given consent to be ruled

Natural rights- assumes that human beings had rights in a “state of nature” and create government to protect those rights

Political rights- all the implicit (constitutionally guaranteed) and implied (by natural law) rights of a citizen of society

Social contract- agreement among all the people in a society to give up part of their freedom to a government in return for the protection of their natural rights by that government

State of nature- basis of natural rights philosophy, state of nature is the hypothetical condition of people living together in a society

Unalienable (inalienable) rights- fundamental rights of the people that may not be taken away

Question & Answer

1. Explain what is meant by each of the following ideas from the Declaration of Independence
§ “all men are created equal”- in a state of nature all men are equal because they have no power over one another and thus are guaranteed the same natural rights

§ “people have certain rights that are unalienable”- in Locke’s opinion these are rights to life, liberty and property, which he considers to be the essence of humanity and can neither be taken away or given up because they make us human beings and define our purpose
o Life- people want to survive and hey want their lives to be as free as possible from threats to their security
o Liberty- People want to be as free as possible from the domination of others, to be able to make their own decisions, and to live as they please
o Property- people want the freedom to work and gain economic gods such as land, houses, tools, and money

§ “governments are created to secure these rights”- the governed consent to government so as to have their natural rights protected. They are guaranteed civil and political rights, (please see definitions above) which give us control over government

§ “governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed”- a legitimate government cannot exist until the people have given their consent to be ruled by it.

§ “people have the right to alter or abolish their government if it becomes destructive of the purposes for which it was created”- the government is created by the people to protect the rights of the people. If a legitimate government fails to protect the rights of people, then it has become illegitimate as it no longer fulfills its purpose and the people can disband said government.

2. What is meant by “the law of nature” or “natural law”? How did Locke try to establish or figure out what limitations it imposed on human conduct?

§ Basically the law of nature is when people simply oblige to social standards or norms rather than having a set government to enforce laws. To establish the law of nature, Locke assumed that people were in a state of nature, where there was no government. Therefore, there was no legitimate authority to declare rights, and the rights would have to be determined by social norms. A limitation he saw was that not all people were good and there may even be disagreement about what the laws of nature were. Therefore, people needed a legitimate government to interpret and enforce laws.

3. How did Lock use the idea of a state of nature to try to establish or figure out what the purpose of government should be?

· Lock uses the state of nature to legitimize the purpose of government by asking the question “What are the things that all people always need and seek, no matter what they believe, no matter when or where they live?”He came to the conclusion of life, liberty, and property, and made government an institution to protect these rights.

4. What was Locke’s view of human nature? How did it influence his ideas about what type government is best?

· Locke thought that most people understood natural laws and therefore abided by them. This influenced his ideas about government because he felt people could make reasoned decisions and pick a government to which they would willingly give consent.

5. What is meant by the term “social contract”? How is it connected to the idea that government derives its authority from the consent of the governed?

· Please refer to “Important Terms” for proper definition of social contract. Thus, this term relates to consent of the governed because the people have given up something to gain a government that can protect and enforce those natural rights, which may or may not be enforce in a state of nature. The governed have entered into a contract with the government, and thus people are giving power to the government for it to have its authority.