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Chapter 15: Of Paternal, Political, and Despotical Power, considered together
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Second Treatise of Government, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Nature, War, and Civil Society
Consent of the Governed and the Role of Government
Power and Absolute Monarchies
The Dissolution of Government
Summary
Analysis
As a government can only arise through the consent of the people, a conquest is far from setting up a civil government, Locke argues. Any aggressor who puts themselves in a state of war with another and invades another’s rights unjustly can never have dominion over the conquered. To do so places the conquered into a state in which their only choice is to appeal to the heavens, which can never be a civil government. Thus, Locke claims, any attempt to conquer another by unauthorized force is illegitimate and does not obligate the conquered to obedience.
This again implies that subjects of absolute monarchies are not obligated to obey the king. Just as a conquest is not undertaken with consent, neither is an absolute monarchy, which can never be considered a civil society. Locke has already specifically stated an absolute monarchy places subjects in a state of war, which he says here more directly is an illegitimate form of government.
Themes
Literary Devices
Next, Locke considers what power the conqueror does have over the conquered. First and foremost, the conquest does not entitle the conqueror to power over those who conquered with them. And the conquered people are not, Locke hopes, to be enslaved by the conqueror. Any power that the conqueror does hold over the conquered is only despotical. The conqueror has absolute power over those lives forfeited through the state of war; however, the conqueror does not have power over those not engaged in a state of war, nor does the conqueror have power over the possessions of those who did engage in war.
A conquest obviously does not give the conqueror power over any allies, and the power they assume over the conquered is likewise limited, as it does not allow power over one’s life as is implied in slavery. In order for a conqueror to have any power over the conquered, the conquered would have to consent to a state of war, enter said state, and lose to the conqueror. The conqueror may not just arbitrarily arrive and claim power over everyone.
Themes
So, Locke claims, a conquest may give a conqueror power over the life of another, but this power does not transfer to property or possessions. The conqueror has no right to seize another’s property, and even in the case of reparations cannot take the property or possessions of one’s spouse or children. Even if damages are owed to a conqueror for whatever reason, and their children are left to starve and die, this does not entitle the conqueror to land, as land is much more valuable than any damage due to war. No state of war can give the conqueror power to dispossess one of their inheritance, which is to remain in one’s possession and their descendants for all generations.
Locke frequently uses America as an example when explaining his theories of government, and it is interesting here to apply the same lens. According to Locke’s theories, American colonists, who were essentially conquerors, never had any right to Indigenous lands, even if the Native Americans did consent to and enter into a state of war with them. Thus, the American government never had any innate right to relieve the indigenous people of their lands, which future generations of indigenous people were rightfully entitled to.
Themes
Literary Devices
If a common-wealth’s former government is destroyed during a conquest, the people have an absolute right to build another one, Locke contends. Every human being is born with two rights—the freedom of their person and the right to inherit their parents’ property and possessions. Thus, the members of any common-wealth have an innate right to retain the possessions of their ancestors, including property. However, even if the common-wealth consents to the absolute power of the conqueror, that power is still not absolute. As one in a state of nature cannot destroy their own life or possessions, they cannot consent to give such power away. Locke does not argue whether kings are exempt from laws, but he is convinced they are still subjects of the laws of nature and God, as no power can exempt them from such obligation.
The power of the common-wealth to put a government in place for the people cannot be absolved or taken away once it is freely given by the people. In Locke’s view, power is always limited, as no one can have absolute power over themselves or others, which again mirrors Locke’s argument that absolute monarchies are not legitimate forms of government and subjects are not obligated to follow such laws. Everyone is obligated to follow the rules of God and nature, Locke suggests, even absolute monarchs.
Themes
Literary Devices
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