Torben Arndt 
The Political Theories of Locke and Rousseau 

Essay from the year 2015 in the subject Politics – Basics and General, grade: 1, 3, Justus-Liebig-University Giessen, language: English, abstract: Two Essays about John Locke’s and Jean Jacques Rousseau’s political theories

The natural law theory of politics has been playing an important role in the evolution of states since the time of Ancient Greece. Later, these theories provided the basis for philosophers of the 16th and 17th century, here to name Thomas Hobbes, Jean Jacques Rousseau and John Locke as the most important ones. In a time of civil wars and political upheavals, the natural law theories often provided a justification for a new order or at least tried to define a new form of the state. Since this theory is regarded as a basis for many modern liberal states, the following essay will explain the key elements of natural law theory such as natural law, the state of nature and the need for a social contract. I will mainly rely on John Locke and his work The Second Treatise of Government (published in 1689).