Two Treatises of Government · Chapter
XV: Of Paternal, Political, and Despotical Power, Considered Together explained
Locke distinguishes three forms of power—paternal, political, and despotical—to correct common confusions.
What happens
Locke distinguishes three forms of power—paternal, political, and despotical—to correct common confusions. Paternal power is natural, limited to parents' governance of children for their benefit until they reach reason. Political power arises from consent and compact, exercised by society for the preservation of life, liberty, and property. Despotical power is absolute and arbitrary, arising only from forfeiture in a state of war, and is incompatible with compact or property.
Themes in this chapter
Natural Rights and Liberty
Locke grounds political power in the natural right to self-preservation and property, which cannot be surrendered to arbitrary authority.
Consent of the Governed
Political power originates from compact and mutual consent of individuals forming a community.
Critique of Patriarchalism and Divine Right
Locke explicitly separates paternal power from political power, rejecting the patriarchal model of absolute monarchy.
Characters to notice
- Sir Robert Filmer
Locke's arguments implicitly counter Filmer's conflation of paternal and political power.
Key passages
“Paternal or parental power is nothing but that which parents have over their children, to govern them for the children’s good, till they come to the use of reason...”
Parental authority is temporary and aimed at the child's welfare, lasting only until the child can reason and govern themselves.
Locke limits paternal power to minority, emphasizing its natural and non-political character.
“Political power is that power, which every man having in the state of nature, has given up into the hands of the society, and therein to the governors, whom the society hath set over itself, with this express or tacit trust, that it shall be employed for their good, and the preservation of their property.”
Political authority is delegated by individuals to society and its governors under a trust to protect the common good and property.
Locke grounds political power in consent and trust, rejecting absolute or arbitrary rule.
“Despotical power is an absolute, arbitrary power one man has over another, to take away his life, whenever he pleases. This is a power, which neither nature gives... nor compact can convey... but it is the effect only of forfeiture which the aggressor makes of his own life, when he puts himself into the state of war with another.”
Despotic power is not natural or contractual; it arises only when an aggressor forfeits their life by initiating a state of war, making them like a wild beast subject to destruction.
Locke confines despotical power to just war captives, distinguishing it sharply from political authority.