PREVIEW-Episode 37: Locke on Political Power

Summary: Discussing John Locke's Second Treatise on Government (1690).<br> This is a 30-minute preview of our vintage 1 hr, 34-minute episode which you can buy at <a href="http://partiallyexaminedlife.com/product/ep-37-locke-on-political-power/" target="_blank">partiallyexaminedlife.com/store</a> or <a href="http://partiallyexaminedlife.com/2011/05/06/ep37-locke-citizen/" target="_blank">get for free</a> with PEL Citizenship (see <a href="http://partiallyexaminedlife.com/membership" target="_blank">partiallyexaminedlife.com/membership</a>). You can also purchase the full episode in the <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/episode-37-locke-on-political/id1043321671" target="_blank">iTunes Store</a>: Search for "Partially Locke" and look under "Albums."<br> What makes political power legitimate? Like <a href="http://partiallyexaminedlife.com/2009/06/07/episode-3-hobbess-leviathan-the-social-contract/" target="_blank">Hobbes</a>, Locke thinks that things are less than ideal without a society to keep people from killing us, so we implicitly sign a social contract giving power to the state. But for Locke, nature's not as bad, so the state is given less power. But how much less? And what does Locke think about tea partying, kids, women, acorns, foreign travelers, and calling dibs? The part of Wes is played by guest podcaster <a href="http://www.blogger.com/profile/18273102123975115696" target="_blank">Sabrina Weiss</a>.<br> Read along with us with <a href="http://www.constitution.org/jl/2ndtreat.htm" target="_blank">online</a> or <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0300100183/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=theparexalif-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=0300100183" target="_blank">buy the book.</a><br> End song: "Lock Them Away," by <a href="http://marklint.com" target="_blank">Madison Lint</a> (2003).<br>