Second Treatise of Government

Character Guide

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Sir Robert Filmer

Author of "Patriarcha," whose divine-right theory of absolute monarchy (rule by inherited fatherly authority descending from Adam) Locke sets out to refute throughout the treatise.

Richard Hooker

Ecclesiastical writer whom Locke quotes approvingly (from "Ecclesiastical Polity") as an authority supporting natural equality, reason, and the foundations of law and society.

Adam

The biblical first man, discussed early on regarding whether God granted him (and thus his heirs) private dominion over the earth and other men — a claim Locke argues against.

The Man in the State of Nature (Natural man)

Locke's model individual — free, equal, and bound only by the law of reason before entering civil society; the starting point for his whole argument about rights and government.

The Legislative Power

The supreme law-making authority that a people sets up when forming a commonwealth, entrusted to govern by settled, publicly known laws for the common good.

The Prince / Executive (The magistrate)

The person or body holding executive power, responsible for enforcing the laws made by the legislative, and bound by the same trust as the legislative.

Glossary

State of Nature

The condition of humans living without a common political authority, governed only by the law of nature (reason), which Locke treats as the logical and sometimes historical starting point before civil society.

Law of Nature

An unwritten moral law accessible to reason, obliging all people not to harm one another's life, liberty, health, or possessions, and forming the basis of natural rights.

Property

Locke's broad term (sometimes narrow) covering a person's 'life, liberty, and estate' collectively, as well as material possessions acquired through labor.

Commonwealth

Locke's general term for any independent political community or state, regardless of its particular form of government (monarchy, democracy, etc.).

Legislative Power

The supreme authority within a government responsible for making laws; Locke treats it as bound by trust to serve the common good rather than absolute in itself.

Executive Power

The authority responsible for enforcing the laws made by the legislative; in Locke's scheme it is subordinate to and dependent on legislative authority.

Tacit Consent

Implied agreement to the laws and authority of a government, shown through actions like accepting protection or property within its jurisdiction, without an explicit oath or contract.

Paternal Power

The limited, temporary authority parents hold over children until they reach the age of reason, which Locke distinguishes sharply from political or absolute power.

Prerogative

Discretionary power exercised by an executive for the public good in situations the law does not strictly cover, which Locke discusses as legitimate only when aimed at the people's benefit.

Dissolution of Government

Locke's term for the collapse or forfeiture of a government's legitimate authority, whether through conquest, internal usurpation, or betrayal of the people's trust — after which the people may form a new government.

Arbitrary Power

Rule by unpredictable personal will rather than settled, known laws; Locke consistently condemns this as incompatible with legitimate political authority.

Filmer's 'Observations'

A reference to Sir Robert Filmer's writings defending absolute monarchy by divine hereditary right, which Locke directly quotes and rebuts.

Tenant in Common

A legal/philosophical concept Locke uses to describe how the earth and its natural fruits originally belonged to all mankind jointly, before individual appropriation through labor.

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