In order to fully understand how Locke justifies colonial dispossession while
upholding the concept of natural rights, one must first understand his position on
natural law jurisdiction, state of nature, and his interrelated justifications, which
include agrarian labour, spoilage and waste of land, natural law birth right, the
greater good, and enough land for everyone, as well as the notion of enlightenment.
Let me clarify Locke's concept of natural rights during the Enlightenment period in
the following paragraph, firstly ‘enlightenment’ was a philosophical and intellectual
movement that conquered the world of concepts in Europe during the period in-
between 1689 and 1789, it included a variety of ideas based primarily on the
sovereignty of reason, evidence of the senses as primary sources of knowledge, as
well as advanced ideals such as liberty, progress, toleration, religion, law and morals
and constitutional government.1 Natural Laws are discernible by reason, according to
Enlightenment philosophers, and therefore we must adopt natural laws in our social
life, laws of the universe (man-made laws) can only be acknowledged if they are
consistent with the natural laws.2 Natural rights such as the right to life, liberty, and
property, according to Locke and other intellectuals, are inalienable, and the social
contract existed to protect them.3 The role of the natural rights during the
enlightenment period was that they were part and parcel of the social contract laying
the foundations for human liberty and civilized political society. 4 Natural rights were
revolutionary in the sense that they provided its citizens the legal right (and was also
seen as morally necessary) to revolt against any tyrannical government that did not
uphold its end of the social contract, for example the Haitian, American and the
French revolution were influenced greatly by the notion of natural rights. 5
The state of nature, according to Locke, is a period before the formation of a
governmental system in which there is no civil authorities and no laws governing
human behaviour.6 In the context of the Americans, the aboriginals, according to
Locke, personifies the natural man, and the Aboriginal is considered to live in the
state of nature and as a result, both the natural man and the state of nature are
1
Bodhisattva Kar, Lecture 28: Rationalism vs. Empiricism, Connections and Interruptions, 1500-1800 HST1013F,
University of Cape Town, delivered May 31, 2021
2
Kar, Lecture 29, p. 2.
3
Ibid
4
Ibid
5
Ibid
6
Kar, Lecture 28, p. 2.
upholding the concept of natural rights, one must first understand his position on
natural law jurisdiction, state of nature, and his interrelated justifications, which
include agrarian labour, spoilage and waste of land, natural law birth right, the
greater good, and enough land for everyone, as well as the notion of enlightenment.
Let me clarify Locke's concept of natural rights during the Enlightenment period in
the following paragraph, firstly ‘enlightenment’ was a philosophical and intellectual
movement that conquered the world of concepts in Europe during the period in-
between 1689 and 1789, it included a variety of ideas based primarily on the
sovereignty of reason, evidence of the senses as primary sources of knowledge, as
well as advanced ideals such as liberty, progress, toleration, religion, law and morals
and constitutional government.1 Natural Laws are discernible by reason, according to
Enlightenment philosophers, and therefore we must adopt natural laws in our social
life, laws of the universe (man-made laws) can only be acknowledged if they are
consistent with the natural laws.2 Natural rights such as the right to life, liberty, and
property, according to Locke and other intellectuals, are inalienable, and the social
contract existed to protect them.3 The role of the natural rights during the
enlightenment period was that they were part and parcel of the social contract laying
the foundations for human liberty and civilized political society. 4 Natural rights were
revolutionary in the sense that they provided its citizens the legal right (and was also
seen as morally necessary) to revolt against any tyrannical government that did not
uphold its end of the social contract, for example the Haitian, American and the
French revolution were influenced greatly by the notion of natural rights. 5
The state of nature, according to Locke, is a period before the formation of a
governmental system in which there is no civil authorities and no laws governing
human behaviour.6 In the context of the Americans, the aboriginals, according to
Locke, personifies the natural man, and the Aboriginal is considered to live in the
state of nature and as a result, both the natural man and the state of nature are
1
Bodhisattva Kar, Lecture 28: Rationalism vs. Empiricism, Connections and Interruptions, 1500-1800 HST1013F,
University of Cape Town, delivered May 31, 2021
2
Kar, Lecture 29, p. 2.
3
Ibid
4
Ibid
5
Ibid
6
Kar, Lecture 28, p. 2.
