Two Treatises of Government · Chapter
IX: Of the Ends of Political Society and Government explained
Locke explains why individuals leave the state of nature to form political society: the preservation of their property (life, liberty, and estates).
What happens
Locke explains why individuals leave the state of nature to form political society: the preservation of their property (life, liberty, and estates). He identifies three defects of the state of nature—lack of an established known law, lack of an impartial judge, and lack of enforcement power—that drive people to unite under government. In doing so, they give up their natural powers of self-preservation and punishment to the community, which then acts through established laws and an executive power, all directed to the common good.
Free preview opens on this chapter — companions, themes, and character notes appear beside the text.
Narrative arc
Story tension across the book — this chapter sits in Rising action.
- Setup
- Escalation
- Breaking point
The emotional and psychological peak occurs as the endnotes abruptly shift from Locke’s own argument to a dens…
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Follow the arc while readingThemes in this chapter
- State of Nature and Social Contract
Locke describes the transition from the state of nature to political society through positive agreements, where individuals give up their natural powers for the preservation of property and the common good.
- Property and Labor
The 'great and chief end' of government is the preservation of property, which Locke defines broadly as 'lives, liberties, and estates,' making property central to the social contract.
- Limited Government and Rule of Law
Locke insists that legislative power must govern by established standing laws, impartial judges, and only for the public good, limiting government to protect individual rights.
Key passages
“The great and chief end, therefore, of men’s uniting into commonwealths, and putting themselves under government, is the preservation of their property.”
The primary reason people form governments is to protect their property, which includes their lives, liberties, and possessions.
Locke defines property broadly to encompass life, liberty, and estates, making it the central purpose of political society.
“For in the state of nature, to omit the liberty he has of innocent delights, a man has two powers. The first is to do whatsoever he thinks fit for the preservation of himself and others within the permission of the law of nature... The other power a man has in the state of nature, is the power to punish the crimes committed against that law.”
In the state of nature, each person has two fundamental powers: the right to act for self-preservation and the right to punish violations of natural law.
Locke identifies these two powers that individuals surrender when entering political society, transferring them to the community's legislative and executive authorities.
