A Nietzschean Critique of Lockean Government Matt Young College

Seventeenth-century British philosopher John Locke, in his Second Treatise of Government, puts forward his view of political philosophy grounded in the idea that freedom, equality, and independence are central goals of human life, especially as manifested in the owning of property (i.e., life, liberty, and estate). Around two hundred years later, in the nineteenth century, German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche publishes his revolutionary ideas in philosophy, which criticize the values of his forerunners and contemporaries as “nihilistic” and weak. What would Nietzsche think of a government that operates in complete accordance with the philosophy of Locke? In this paper I argue that Nietzsche would find a Lockean society to be profoundly nihilistic and yet not entirely unpraiseworthy, as seen by a comparative analysis of Locke’s recommendations for political life in light of Nietzsche’s assessment of these values, and I put forth a speculative idea of a political system Nietzsche might suggest in lieu of Locke’s.

In the Second Treatise: Of Civil Government, Locke details his ideas on politics as they relate to government. The key to understanding Locke’s theory of government is found in his doctrine of property; in Chapter V (...