Document Type : Research Paper

Author

PhD, Department of Criminal Law and Criminology, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

How the government is formed is one of the important themes about the phenomenon of government.  Yet more important is the issue of the dissolution of government.  This paper studies the dissolution of government from the viewpoint of John Locke as one of the greatest political philosophers in the modern world.  The main research questions are, what are the foundations in Locke’s political theology that can explain the dissolution of government? and what conditions should be met in order to concede the possibility of the dissolution of government or confer on citizens the right to it? Locke believes that in the state of nature, human beings have rights as well as the ability to govern themselves.  Human beings enter the political society with some rights, the most important of which is the right to judge the performance of rulers.  Moreover, they have the right to dismiss or even penalize rulers whenever they do not fulfil their obligations, and if rulers go against the popular will, people can resort to force and revolution.  For Locke, revolution is not the worst thing in politics but in the despotic politics.  In Locke’s viewpoint, revolution is necessary to ensure rulers’ adherence to their obligations.  More importantly, revolution is both the foundation of freedom and the greatest manifestation of humans’ self-government.
 

Keywords

  1. الف) فارسی

    نامه­­ی میشل فوکو به مهدی بازرگان، ترجمه­ی­ حسام سلامت،

     http://tarikhirani. ir/fa/news.

    ب) انگلیسی

    Chappell, Vere, (1994), The Cambridge Companion to Locke, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.

    1. A. Lloyd, Thomas, (1995), Routledge Philosophy GuideBook to Locke on Government, London, Routledge.

    Filmer, Robert, (1949), Patriarcha and Other Political Works of Sir Robert Filmer, Oxford, Basil Blackwell.

    Hobbes, Thomas, (1996), Leviathan, Oxford, Oxford University Press.

    John Locke, Second Treatise of Government, adapted by Jonathan Bennett, available at https://fliphtml5. com/blvb/xmep/basic.

    Locke, John, (2003), Two Treatises of Government and A Letter Concerning Toleration, London, Yale University Press

    1. Anstey, Peter, (2003), The Philosophy of John Locke New Perspectives, London, Routledge.

    Stuart, Matthew, (2016), A Companion to Locke, Hoboken, New Jersey, Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

    Taylor, Dianna, (2011), Michel Foucault Key Concepts, Stocksfield, United Kingdom ,Acumen Publishing.

    Tully, James, (1993), An Approach to Political Philosophy: Locke in Contexts, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.

    Foucault, M. (2015, February 5). Open letter to prime minister Mehdi Bazargan. (H. Salamat, Trans). Retrieved from http://tarikhirani. ir/fa/news. (Original work published 1978)