Second Treatise of Government, Chapter 4 summary
Chapter 4 of 19 · Book 2 · 3 min to read the chapter
In Chapter 4, the argument defines liberty as life under natural law or a legislature established by consent, rather than submission to another person’s arbitrary wishes. It rejects voluntary enslavement, defines strict slavery as continued war between conqueror and captive, and distinguishes that condition from service with legal limits.
What happens
- Natural liberty follows natural law, while civil liberty rests on common rules made by a legislature established through consent.
- The argument rejects Sir Robert Filmer’s account of freedom as unrestricted conduct without binding laws.
- A person cannot consent to absolute enslavement because nobody possesses a transferable power over their own life.
- Someone whose wrongdoing deserves death may be kept alive and compelled to serve by the person entitled to kill him.
- Strict slavery continues a state of war, while an agreement limiting power ends that condition for its duration.
- Service among the Jews differs from strict slavery because release requirements and protections against injury limit the master’s power.
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What distinguishes strict slavery from service governed by an agreement?
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