The Governments and States of Locke, Aquinas, and St. Augustine Essay e

In John Lockes Second Treatise of Governwork forcet, he identifies a government activity that is of the peoples consent with his essential raison d&900tre being the preservation and protection of privateised property. This type of government is extremely comparable with the type of government that St. Augustine describes in his work City of God, while at the same season contrasts the views of doubting Thomas in the ways a state should operate. The end goal of how to each one of these philosophers states purposes presents the greatest split between each of their philosophies. To understand how each of these philosophers states atomic number 18 similar and different from each other, a deeper analysis is essential. The first and perhaps most striking similarity between the states that both Locke and St. Augustine propose lies in the fact that both see the state as a required evil. Locke describes the perfect life as one in the state of temperament, where there are limitless b oundaries to license. Within these limitless boundaries to do whatsoever you want lays the ability for others to do harm to you and your property, because they aim complete freedom as well. In order to overcome this lack of security, Locke describes the state as a necessary evil which one must give up certain freedoms in order to be protected under the find of law. This is similar to St. Augustine in the respect that within the world there are evil men who will do harm to others. Augustine argues that laws are necessary to make sure that people can live with the peace of beware that they are protected from the sins of others.One of the contrasting points the states of doubting Thomas and Locke possess is grow in how each state should set up and decide their laws. doubting Thomas argues that we should set up our laws based on high morals, which e very(prenominal)(prenominal) men could agree on, and on the high ideals of natural law. Locke disagrees with this in the respect tha t all men are Tabula Rasa, which begin life as blank slates and infract their views and ideas based on the experiences they are exposed to. According to Locke the men in the state of Aquinas would all have different experiences and place splendor on different morals and ideals. Therefore, Locke argues that in order to have a legitimate set of laws, they must be based on very solid foundations which cannot be subject to argument. Such foundations would be the protection of property, as well as the ... ...ant to be told that there is only one form of right and wrong, which is exactly what the opposing state proposes. Examples of the type of state that Aquinas and St. Augustine present can be seen in close to of the failed regimes of the past century. prime examples of states that attempted to strive for the better good of its people, and failed, can be seen in both Nazi Germany and communist Russia. These states attempted to take each individual and force them into an ideal mold of what they wanted their citizens to become. Even though these societies succeeded for some amount of time, both have since collapsed and states in the Lockean from have arose out of their ashes.As aforementioned, both of the types of states presented have strong and weak points to ponder on. Both have rose to power at one point in time or another, although the Lockean state has remained where others have fallen. Overall, an argument can be do that in our modern world with globalization and a never death mixing of cultures the only way for a state to succeed is to swan ideological ideals behind and look to protect the greater good by looking out for the peace, safety, and public good of its people.