State of Nature and Social Contract

Humans originally exist in a state of perfect freedom and equality governed by natural law, but they enter into a social contract to form civil society for better protection of their rights.

Implicit in Locke's rejection of Filmer's claim that Adam's creation immediately established political authority.

Locke defines the state of nature as a state of perfect freedom and equality, governed by the law of nature, which forms the basis for political society through consent.

Locke distinguishes the state of nature (peace, reason, no common superior) from the state of war (force, enmity, no appeal), showing how the social contract aims to avoid war.

Locke explains that a compact between a conqueror and a captive ends the state of war and slavery, as no man can consent to give another power over his own life.