In the Second Treatise of Government, John Locke’s main goal was to define the argument of the most important philosophical concept, the State of Nature. The innovative concept suggests that in the State of Nature, people freely own property and dispose of it to their desires. The concept is revolutionary because it implies that people in the State of Nature do not violate other people’s rights and are equal to each other. Thus, John Locke constitutes the concepts of freedom in rejecting slavery and equality, representing fundamental views and ideas of the Enlightenment.
Furthermore, the Letter Concerning Toleration builds defense for the state created by the treaty. John Locke criticizes the institution of the papacy for creating a ‘state within a state,’ speaking of the risks of breaking such a form of government. Furthermore, the author questions atheism as a form of denial of laws. The fundamental idea in the Letter Concerning Toleration is the revolutionary synthesis of moral laws with state ones. Thus, both Locke’s works postulate the concept of protecting the individual’s rights, supporting the values and ideas of the Enlightenment.
John Locke sees the key to the state of nature in free possession of the property since this constitutes the individual as an independent person. He states: “That is a state of perfect freedom of acting and disposing of their own possessions and persons as they think fit within the bounds of the law of nature” (Locke and Popple, 45). John Locke constitutes the importance of laws created through free will. The uniqueness and revolutionary character of the philosopher’s views was in giving an individual the right to dispose of his life and the objects around him, separating divine laws from state laws.
Being a subtle psychologist and a person who recognizes the life of other people only in the community, John Locke creates a paradigm of existence in social reality. In addition to freedom, equality, and individuality, which founded the Enlightenment philosophy, John Locke perceived people as part of society. Individual faith becomes social for him: “Those are not at all to be tolerated who deny the being of a God. Promises, covenants, and oaths, which are the bonds of human society, can have no hold upon an atheist” (Locke and Popple 71). Thus, the ideas of John Locke represent the central values of the Enlightenment, which include equality, freedom, individuality, and community.
Reference
Locke, John. and Popple, William. 2018. Two Treatises of Government & A Letter Concerning Toleration. Adansonia Publishing.