Political Power
1. How does Locke define "political power"?2. Max Weber, who we will be reading later in the semester, defines the state as "a human community that (successfully) claims a monopoly of the legitimate use of physical force within a given territory" (Max Weber, "Politics as a Vocation"). Compare Locke's definition of political power with Weber's definition of the state. What difference and similirities to do you see?.
The State of Nature
3. What is the "State of Nature," according to Locke? How does he describe it? What freedoms does "Man in that State" have? Would the state of nature be a state in Weber's sense of the term? Why or why not? What do you think is Locke's purpose in discussing the state of nature?4. What are "Men" in the state of nature like? (In your answer, be sure to refer to words or phrases in the text.) What restrains their actions?
5. Does Locke think the state of nature actually existed, or exists? What proof does he give? Consider carefully his assumptions.
The State of War
6. What distinguishes the "state of war" from the "state of nature"?Property
7. What does "Man" own? According to what principles do people own anything? What limits does Locke set out to the accumulation of property (at the end of paragraph 27)?8. Try to identify the contradiction in paragraph 28.
9. How did the invention of money change the limitations on the accumulation of property?
Political or Civil Society
10. Why is the state or "political society" necessary, according to Locke (paragraph 87)? What is the "chief end" of uniting into a commonwealth, according to Locke (paragraph 124)? (Note: Marx and Engels, in their Manifesto of the Communist Party, which we will be reading later in the semester, write that,: "The executive of the modern state is but a committee for managing the common affairs of the whole bourgeoisie." Keep this in mind for when we get to Marx and Engels.)
11. What is the difference between express consent and tacit consent (paragraph 119)? How can tacit consent be justified?
12. Why do "men" agree to submit themselves to political authority? What are differences between the state of nature and the commonwealth that are important enough to cause people to enter into political society (paragraphs 123 -131)?
Summary
13. Choose at least three adjectives to summarize Locke's views of human
nature. Choose another three adjectives or phrases to describe Locke's view of
power.
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