AdminModel Answers to PYQs (2019-2024)
1] Comment on Locke’s views on Revolution [2024/10m/150w/1c]
Locke is a liberal thinker and believes in the human capacity to reason. If Hobbes has seen the troubled phase of British history and gives a pessimistic view, Locke has seen the stable period and so gives a ‘balanced view’ of human nature.
Locke suggests that governments derive their authority from the consent of the people. The social contract is an agreement where individuals surrender some freedoms to a government to protect their natural rights. Consequently, if the government violates the social contract by infringing on natural rights or becoming tyrannical, it loses its legitimacy and people have a right to revolt.
Further, while people will have the right to revolt, there is no need for violence. Since people are rational, problems can be resolved through dialogue. Thus, for Locke, revolution does not denote bloodshed, but rather a simple change in the set of persons ruling.
While Locke has tried to give a peaceful approach to revolution, the reality can be quite different. As we witnessed in the French Revolution, a lot of blood was shed to restore the liberal values of liberty, equality and fraternity. [186 words]
2] Write on the Locke’s Social Contract. [2022/10m/150w/1e]
Locke is a liberal scholar and a well-known proponent of social contract theory. According to him, a state of nature is a condition, where humans are free to do anything that pleases them, with complete liberty, but also morality.
The state of nature is that in which humans are free but bound by the rules of morality. This creates a peaceful atmosphere, as opposed to what Hobbes enunciates in his theory that a state of war emerges in a state of nature.
However, Locke also says in his theory, that if there is a threat to life by another person, breaking the law of nature by killing the other in self-defence is considered right, and a state of war will emerge only when a person decides to revolt and involve in criminal activities. But since there is no rule other than that of morality the war will continue to go on. This is where the need for a political community comes into the scene.
A government made by the people, with rules and regulations formed with the consent of people, to be acted upon those who violate the law of nature, comes into force in such situations. This benefits the people in the state of nature in many ways, providing them security against those that can be potential threats and the protection of their rights.
Locke’s social contract prioritises the individual and is regarded as the foundation of the liberal market-based society. [242 words]
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