Page "Social contract" Paragraph 13

John Locke's conception of the social contract differed from Hobbes ' in several fundamental ways, retaining only the central notion that persons in a state of nature would willingly come together to form a state.

Locke believed that individuals in a state of nature would be bound morally, by The Law of Nature, not to harm each other in their lives or possession, but without government to defend them against those seeking to injure or enslave them, people would have no security in their rights and would live in fear.

Locke argued that individuals would agree to form a state that would provide a " neutral judge ", acting to protect the lives, liberty, and property of those who lived within it.

While Hobbes argued for near-absolute authority, Locke argued for inviolate freedom under law in his Second Treatise of Government.

Locke argued that government's legitimacy comes from the citizens ' delegation to the government of their right of self-defense ( of " self-preservation ").

The government thus acts as an impartial, objective agent of that self-defense, rather than each man acting as his own judge, jury, and executioner — the condition in the state of nature.

In this view, government derives its " just powers from the consent delegation of the governed ,".