6.3a John Locke & Mary Wollstonecraft Flashcards
John Locke (1632-1704)
John Locke was a philosopher and wrote about social contract theory in his “Two Treatises on Government”.
Locke: Social contract theory
The government should be reliant on consent from voters, rather than imposed on them from above.
According to Locke, individuals choose to leave the State of Nature and give up some of their individual powers to the government.
Individuals join together to form society and consent to lose some of their individual powers in order to gain laws, judges and an executive.
Individuals are rational and therefore believe that it is in their own best interests to consent to a government.
Locke: Limited government
Locke supported the idea of limited government, rather than a lack of government.
He argued that “where laws do not exist, man has no freedom”.
The state is able to protect us from harm, and this ensures individual freedoms.
Individuals have a right to their own property.
Locke believed that the state should protect an individual’s “life, liberty and estate”, and the protection of this should be the limits of government.
Mary Wollstonecraft (1759–97)
Mary Wollstonecraft was a prominent first wave feminist. Wollstonecraft’s most famous publication was “A Vindication of the Rights of Women”.
Wollstonecraft: A Vindication of the Rights of Women
Wollstonecraft argued in this text that men and women are both rational beings that should, therefore, be treated equally.
Wollstonecraft argued that “the mind has no gender”, meaning that women and men have the ability for reason and rationality, but women have been denied education and so may seem less rational.
Therefore, women should be educated to be rational members of society.
Wollstonecraft argued that both genders are rational - and so should be granted equal rights and liberties.
Wollstonecraft: Formal equality
Wollstonecraft supported formal equality for women - equal rights.
This would give women liberty, which they were unable to have when constrained by the patriarchy.
Wollstonecraft also advocated for careers for women.
