# John Locke — The Social Contract character guide

> John Locke in The Social Contract by Jean-Jacques Rousseau.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Locke

**First appearance:** 0008-iv-slavery

## Snapshot

The philosopher of property and consent whose shadow shapes Rousseau's account of what each person gains and loses in the pact.

## Who they are

Locke's presence is felt in the careful accounting Rousseau performs when he asks what the contracting parties actually exchange: natural independence for civil liberty, the power to harm for security, precarious strength for an invincible right. Where Locke grounds political society in the protection of property, Rousseau pushes further, insisting each person gives themselves wholly to the community and receives an equivalent in return. The tension between these two visions of consent runs through the middle books.

## In the story

### [Slavery](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_social_contract_se/chapters/iv-slavery)

Referenced indirectly through the discussion of natural rights and the illegitimacy of arbitrary government.

### [II: That Sovereignty Is Indivisible](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_social_contract_se/chapters/ii-that-sovereignty-is-indivisible)

Implicitly referenced as a theorist who might divide sovereignty, contrasting with Rousseau's indivisible view.

## Links

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