3. Locke: Equality, Freedom, Property and the Right to Dissent

Foundations of Modern Social Thought (SOCY 151)

John Locke, a liberal thinker and near-contemporary of the conservative Hobbes, disputes Hobbes's thinking in some keys ways and builds on it in others. Locke starts his political theory with a notion of individuals in the state of nature being free, equal and reasonable; the state of nature is not synonymous with the state of war for Locke as it is for Hobbes. Locke argues that states should protect the property of individuals and must govern with the consent of subjects. Unlike Hobbes's strong, unitary sovereign, Locke envisions a separation of the powers of the state into executive, legislative, and federative powers. We examine how Locke's political and social thought assumes an abundance of resources while Hobbes's thought is predicated on an assumption of scarcity.

00:00 - Chapter 1. Locke in a Historical Context
18:40 - Chapter 2. First Treatise
24:42 - Chapter 3. Second Treatise: Major Themes
26:17 - Chapter 4. All Born Free and Equal
29:34 - Chapter 5. Need for Common Superior Based on Consent
32:27 - Chapter 6. Origins and Limits of Private Property
40:03 - Chapter 7. Difference between Absolute Monarchy and Civil Society
43:06 - Chapter 8. Separation of Powers

Complete course materials are available at the Open Yale Courses website: http://open.yale.edu/courses

This course was recorded in Fall 2009.