ABSTRACT
Locke develops a distinction between private and public which is grounded on the notion that individuals can regulate their lives as they think fit, within the boundaries of the law of nature. The Lockean state of nature is relatively peaceful, for individuals can order their relations without the intervention of political authority. But if peace is to be maintained, political activity of a kind is indispensable, consisting of protecting our fellows, and assessing the wider implications of our choices for the group at large. A public network thus comes into being, generated by the informal and decentralized activity of protection of, and care for, others. Human beings perform all these complex operations by discovering and applying the norms established by God for the species. In describing individuals who can recognize others’ rights, and assume them as their duties, Locke ascribes to men and women a type of autonomous agency which is ethical and juridical at the same time. It is ethical, for in respecting other people’s rights, a person does what is (morally) good. It is juridical, for it enables adults to conceive of specific instances of good or evil as enforceable claims, on the one hand, and as punishable transgressions, on the other.
