Larry Boothe
Blog Post #1
John Locke- Second treatise of Civil Government, “Of the state of war”
In this chapter, one argument made by Locke is that war is justified only in self-defense or when one’s liberty is threatened. The state of war, he says, is a state of enmity and destruction brought about by one’s attempts on another’s life. It is force upon another where there is no common superior to appeal to for relief. When writing about war he seems to be referring to individual conflicts rather than warring among nations. In his example of the thief he says, “kill him if I can; for to that hazard does he justly expose himself, whoever introduces a state of war, and is aggressor in it.” From this we can begin to see his view of human nature. Locke understands that men come into conflict but are rational beings, and he places a premium on personal liberty and property. I agree with his basic notion of war being justified when one’s liberty is threatened, but I disagree with the extremity that comes with war. When a thief steals from you it is not always justifiable to kill him. If men are rational beings then I think we must be empathetic enough to understand that death is not always a suitable punishment for something as minor as thievery. It seems as if Locke has more of an individualistic approach to war rather than utilitarian. Furthermore, although he refers to war on the individual scale it can also be applied to war among nations. For example [according to Locke's definition], the
