Locke's state of nature

Abstract

Scholarly discussion has treated the account of the state of nature which Locke presents in his Second Treatise as neither an hypothesis nor a description but rather as a fiction. John Dunn, for example, claims that it is a 'theoretical analysis of the fundamental relations of right and duty which obtain between human beings, relations which are logically prior to the particular historical situations in which all actual human beings always in fact find themselves'. Here Dunn presents a misleading account of Locke's argument, presumably, as the title of his paper suggests, in order to mount an argument of his own about the 'political relevance' of Locke's work to a time when no one takes seriously the early modern idea of the state of nature. However, this article also has a more serious concern. I argue that the representation of the state of nature as a merely imaginary, 'theoretical analysis' of social relations obscures the significance of the early modern idea of a state of nature, not only for the work of Locke and his near contemporaries, but also, more importantly, for the broader development of western social and political thought. The idea of an original condition of freedom and equality played a central role in Locke's argument, serving as a means both to undermine the view that humans were born into a natural condition of subjection to the rule of others and to justify European expropriation of land in the Americas. It also represented one end of a developmental continuum, running from the original, most primitive, condition of humanity through to the societies of contemporary western Europe, which was thought to encompass all sections of humanity. While the idea of an original asocial condition on which this continuum

Civilized Fictions

“…In a recent article in the History of the Human Sciences, Hindess reflected on the role of the ''state of nature'' in John Locke's political thought. 26 In doing so, Hindess took on a pervasive view in the secondary literature on Locke that his ''state of nature'' concept was a deliberate ''fiction,'' or a tool of merely theoretical speculation and analysis. 27 Hindess argues, in contrast, that far from being a mere ''fiction,'' the state of nature in fact has a four-fold significance in Locke's thought, providing a foundation for his claims about government, property, natural law, and for his own assumptions about historical development in Europe and beyond.…”

“…26 In doing so, Hindess took on a pervasive view in the secondary literature on Locke that his ''state of nature'' concept was a deliberate ''fiction,'' or a tool of merely theoretical speculation and analysis. 27 Hindess argues, in contrast, that far from being a mere ''fiction,'' the state of nature in fact has a four-fold significance in Locke's thought, providing a foundation for his claims about government, property, natural law, and for his own assumptions about historical development in Europe and beyond. In each of these ways, Hindess argues, the state of nature ''has to work as a description,'' but in such a way that it is also beyond refutation merely on the basis of ''empirical evidence.''…”

“…In each of these ways, Hindess argues, the state of nature ''has to work as a description,'' but in such a way that it is also beyond refutation merely on the basis of ''empirical evidence.'' 28 In other words, Locke's state of nature operates as both ''hypothesis'' (about the likely consequences of living beyond the conventions and laws of European civil life) and ''description'' (of the reality in which people actually do live beyond the conventions and laws of European civil life).…”

Response

“…On the first point, Mitchell suggests, citing Richard Tuck's and Carl Schmitt's readings of Locke's second treatise of government, that I might have considered another influential Western view of political power, that is, power as appropriation. I agree that Locke's discussion of the state of nature aims, inter alia, to rationalize the expropriation of American Indians, and that the book failed to examine the place of power in western imperialism and other aspects of international affairs, 6 but I seriously doubt that the view of power as appropriation would take us far in analyzing these issues. For this task, I would turn to the influential developmental understanding of humanity, a topic I address toward the end of this rejoinder.…”

Value and growth: Rethinking basic concepts in Lockean liberalism

“…Macpherson (1962Macpherson ( , 1973 Summarizing these views is complicated, because Locke's view of the state of nature is a mixture of abstract construct and assumptions about nature and the world around him. He draws from the Bible, ancient history and his understanding of what was to be found in "America", in addition to his understanding of his contemporary English (and historical) society (Miller 1980;Hindess 2007;Waldron 1979;Dunn 1969;Simmons 1993). In addition, Locke's views are ambiguous, spread over several works, and they developed over time.…”