Guardian of the Virtues
Locke’s essay “Some Thoughts Concerning Education” is just what it says. The essay is comprised of 217 numbered sections where each section basically connects to what came before and leads to what comes after, but in which, for example, section 162 seems to exist almost independently of section 88. Section 115 connects naturally with the following section in exploring the importance of virtuous traits relative to education. Not by mere coincidence, one suspects, section 116 is one of the longest in the entire essay. That said, it’s message can basically be boiled down to one simple metaphor:
“Fortitude is the guard and support of the other virtues”
“Of Conquest”
“Of Conquest” is an essay which examines and analyzes the nature of conquest of one group over another in relation to power, governance and rights. Early on, Locke forecasts his ultimate moral and message through an accessible simile:
“conquest is as far from setting up any government as demolishing a house is from building a new one in the place.”
Legislative Authority v. Actual Power
In the essay “On the State of Nature” Locke considers the different between authority and power. One of his strongest points is made though a simile. The comparison is almost startling in its efficient summing up of the difference at hand:
“Those who have the supreme power of making laws in England, France, or Holland are, to an Indian, but like the rest of the world—men without authority.”
Man or Parrot?
As a general explication of the attributes of knowledge, Locke considers the difference between rational propositions and “trifling propositions.” Political knowledge is at risk when one speaks only by having apprehended the signification of words without comprehending the actual meaning of them. This differential is situated within metaphorical imagery:
“Before a man makes any proposition, he is supposed to understand the terms he uses in it, or else he talks like a parrot, only making a noise by imitation, and framing certain sounds, which he has learnt of others”
The Purpose of Fear
Within a short span of three or four sentences, Locke provides two different metaphors to describe fear. One informs the reader of what it is emotionally-speaking while the second expands upon that definition to explain how and why fears is best utilized:
“Fear is a passion, that, if rightly governed, has its use.”
“Fear was given us as a monitor to quicken our industry, and keep us upon our guard against the approaches of evil”
