Locke

Question 1

what is Filmer’s argument on the divine right of kings?

Answer 1

• FIlmer defended absolutism which is the doctrine that every king has an empire either by inheritance or by translation and usurpation
• Forms his basis on the bible (gen 1:28) where Adam is the sole ruler and proprietor of the world in the beginning

Question 2

What is Filmer’s arg on Beginnings?

Answer 2

• rests his argument on the bible, which has “more authority” and “given us the true grounds and principles of government”

Question 3

What does Gen 1:28 mean?

Answer 3

• the world was given to Adam in fee - a property right that descends through lawful heirs
• Kings and Queens were natural descendants of Adam hence that enjoyed property rights to their part of the world.

Question 4

How did Filmer deal with the King not being the only ruler?

Answer 4

• Concluded that they ruled in an exchange. Land was given to them for a promise of absolute obedience
• Individual rights are condescension from the King
• Claimed political authority is derived from original property right

Question 5

What is natural law?

Answer 5

i) self preservation. (everyone has a duty to preserve themselves)
ii) the preservation of mankind (once you have fulfilled the first duty an obligation to preserve the rest of mankind arises)

Question 6

What is Locke’s argument against Filmer’s?

Answer 6

• Political society arises from the consent and mandate of individuals - indv posses the power to remove the mandate if the gov abuses its position
• Govs only had a jurisdictional power - the right to regulate disputes and no right to establish property rights for indv in society
• prop rights based on natural law

Question 7

Where does Locke’s argument depart from Filmer’s?

Answer 7

• Adam was given the world as common property and not private property
• established the theory of appropriation to explain how private property is obtained from common property

Question 8

what is the theory of appropriation?

Answer 8

• the way we acquire property is through labour.
• labour justifies our acquisition of property 9this can be delegated)
• no gov is needed to give effect to this theory

Question 9

How does labour result in appropriation?

Answer 9

1) workmanship arg - based on the relationship between God and man. Man is dependent on God as Man is a design made by God. Same applies for what Man makes/produces
2) Self ownership arg - there are property rights in our bodies and we own what our bodily capacities produce

Question 10

what are the limits to appropriation?

Answer 10

1) you must ‘leave enough and as good’ for others
- people are limited by what is sufficient to them

2) you must not waste what you appropriate
3) you can only acquire property through labour

Question 11

How does the theory of appropriation relate to the colonisation of america?

Answer 11

1) No political society
2) Abundance - colonisers can acquire as much land as they wish for self preservation.
3) Efficiency - Property rights of native Americans need not be respected as they use land inefficiently. (based on the assumption that they are simply hunter and gatherers)
4) Legality - Natives are opposing natural law when they refuse to be colonised

Question 12

How does the theory of appropriation relate to the Formation of the Eng Gov?

Answer 12

1) Prop > Gov - Common right to land is given by God and the gov administer/secures those rights
2) We have a natural, common right to property

3) Property = life, liberty - a meaning broader than a right to things
- it encompasses a personal sphere of autonomy that encompasses your life and the thing you own

Question 13

How does Locke justify the transformation of common property to private property without breaching the law of nature?

Answer 13

2 species of property right

1) Claim right
- future ownership. sth you dont possess now but can be obtained at future point

2) Actual ownership

Common property = claim right - no one can be excluded from appropriating land

Labour turns a claim right into an actual right (recognised by English law)

Question 14

What is the BASIS of theory of possessive individualism?

Answer 14

1) We are all selfish
- assumes that we are all fundamentally selfish people
- not sharers of nature
- interact only through exchange

2) We are all equal
- no one person can command another

Question 15

What is the theory of possessive individualism?

Answer 15

• Property enables us to realise our potential and secures our autonomy
  1) Gives stability - allow us to build up and plan for the future
  2) Makes us independent
  3) Cultivates virtues

Question 16

What is the argument against possessive individualism?

Answer 16

1) Results in social inequality
- Locke’s society was divided (haves vs Have not)
2 uses of labour
1) Secure his basis in the world (haves)
2) subjected to employers and harsh economic terms (have nots)

• can only be used in the 17th Century Capitalist Society

Question 17

How does money limit accumulation Locke’s theory?

Answer 17

1) enough and as good for others
2) only what one can acquire through labour
3) things must not be allowed to spoil

Question 18

How has money as capital shifted Locke’s idea of appropriation?

Answer 18

• changed the exchange of property
• allowed people to accumulate property without spoiling
• goes against the rule to leave as much and as good for others
• founded on consent (given value because people agreed to give it value)