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    John Locks

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    Prajval Rathod
    Locke discusses when government dissolution and rebellion are justified. He argues that sovereignty comes from the consent of the people, not from being above the law. Governments can change legitimacy due to foreign conquest, changes in legislation, or ineffective enforcement of laws. Rebellion is justified when a government acts with arbitrary power against the natural law and people's rights, like a tyrant. Only illegitimate authority can be rebelled against.

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    John Locks

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    Prajval Rathod
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    Locke discusses when government dissolution and rebellion are justified. He argues that sovereignty comes from the consent of the people, not from being above the law. Governments can change legitimacy due to foreign conquest, changes in legislation, or ineffective enforcement of laws. Rebellion is justified when a government acts with arbitrary power against the natural law and people's rights, like a tyrant. Only illegitimate authority can be rebelled against.

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    Locke discusses when government dissolution and rebellion are justified. He argues that sovereignty comes from the consent of the people, not from being above the law. Governments can change legitimacy due to foreign conquest, changes in legislation, or ineffective enforcement of laws. Rebellion is justified when a government acts with arbitrary power against the natural law and people's rights, like a tyrant. Only illegitimate authority can be rebelled against.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    5 views3 pages

    John Locks

    Uploaded by

    Prajval Rathod
    Locke discusses when government dissolution and rebellion are justified. He argues that sovereignty comes from the consent of the people, not from being above the law. Governments can change legitimacy due to foreign conquest, changes in legislation, or ineffective enforcement of laws. Rebellion is justified when a government acts with arbitrary power against the natural law and people's rights, like a tyrant. Only illegitimate authority can be rebelled against.

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    W1,S2 – LOCKS.

    Locks approach of dissolution of government.

    in what sort of situation – govt as changing and justification for


    rebellion.

    sovereignty is not above the law – got elected by the people by


    consent.

    various reason why govt might change – one hand foeign conquest.
    Another reson – legislation itself changes. Third reson -

    Locks clearly and conspicuously puts out his thoughts on when the
    government is changing and when the justification for rebellion
    arises. His basic theory is soveign is not above the law, the people in
    the soveign is elected by the consenting individual.
    there are various reason why the govt might change – on one hand
    there can be foeign conquest. Another reason is legislation itself
    changes. Third reason is the current functioning of the legislature is
    unaffective or ineffective in enforcing of law s– hence change.

    A situation where the govt exercise arbitrary power. The meaning and
    the definition of the arbitrary power is important. For locks – arbitrary
    power is when the sovereign is acting completely and diametrically
    opposite of what is best for the people. – explicit case would be
    tyrants, here it is the tyrant and not the people acting against the
    natural law. Here rebellion is not wrong.

    Hobbes – we cannot rebel – if rebelling against the Levitan then we


    are rebelling against ourselves because we elected them.

    as the tyrant is not following according to the natural law because of


    the sentence before mentioned he is not legitimate hence illegitimate.

    locks accepts rebellion only against illegitimate authority.

    4.7 Rebellion and Regicide


    At the end of the Second Treatise we learn about the nature of illegitimate civil
    governments and the conditions under which rebellion and regicide are legitimate and
    appropriate. As noted above, scholars now hold that the book was written during the
    Exclusion Crisis, and may have been written to justify a general insurrection and the
    assassination of the king of England and his brother. The argument for legitimate
    revolution follows from making the distinction between legitimate and illegitimate civil
    government. A legitimate civil government seeks to preserve its subjects’ life, health,
    liberty, and property insofar as this is compatible with the public good. Because it does
    this, it deserves obedience. An illegitimate civil government seeks to systematically
    violate the natural rights of its subjects. It seeks to make them illegitimate slaves. Because
    an illegitimate civil government does this, it puts itself in a state of nature and a state of
    war with its subjects. The magistrate or king of such a state violates the law of nature and
    so makes himself into a dangerous beast of prey who operates on the principle that might
    makes right, or that the strongest carries it. In such circumstances, rebellion is legitimate,
    as is the killing of such a dangerous beast of prey. Thus Locke justifies rebellion and
    regicide under certain circumstances. Presumably, this justification was going to be
    offered for the killing of the King of England and his brother had the Rye House Plot
    succeeded. Even if this was not Locke’s intention, it still would have served that purpose
    admirably.

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