Consent and property
Examine rights, power and appropriation in the second treatise.
An original introduction. This guide accompanies the work; it is neither the complete text nor a translation.
Rights
Natural liberty is constrained by a law of nature imposing obligations toward others. Locate the passage in its historical context and distinguish Locke’s claim from your contemporary examples.
Power
Government receives a limited trust and may be challenged when it destroys the rights it should protect. Compare the argument with an objection and examine which assumptions remain implicit.
Land
The labor theory of appropriation has been used and contested in colonial contexts. Specify limits and affected people before generalizing the text’s conclusion.
Analyze rights, consent and exclusion together, examining the effects of appropriation.
Your turn to think.
- Who consents to an institution and who is excluded?
- What effects does the labor argument have in colonial contexts?
Your selection and progress stay in this browser.